Tornados of the Heart
by Abandoned.See new ZefronsAngel
Summary: *REWRITE* After losing their home, Gabriella and her mom go to live with the Boltons. Right away, Gabriella gets a crush on Troy. Troy's infatuated with his popular girlfriend. Will he ever notice Gabriella? *FULL SUMMARY INSIDE* T
1. A Tornado

**Summary: Gabriella Montez and her mother, Maria, lose their Michigan home due to a tornado. Jack and Lucille Bolton, who live in Albuquerque, offer to take in tornado victims, and Gabriella and Maria end up going to stay with them. Immediately, Gabriella develops a crush on their son, Troy. However, Troy has a popular girlfriend, Sharpay Evans. He barely speaks to Gabriella. Will he ever realize she has feelings for him?**

**.....**

_March 6, 2009_

_Today was a hard day at school. I had tests in two classes, and was assigned loads of homework in all the remaining ones. I don't know why the teachers give out tons of homework on Fridays. It's the start of the weekend! I know people consider me a nerd, but I'm not a big fan of lots of homework; I'm just good at turning things in either on time or early and I manage to get straight 'A's.'_

_This morning during homeroom announcements, my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Skye, told the whole class that a severe tornado warning was going to be in affect for our area around this time. So far, I don't see any signs of a tornado. I have my fingers crossed that one doesn't come._

_Gabriella_

I sighed as I put my diary back in its proper place-the dresser drawer. I then leaned against the pillows on my bed, hugging my knees, and glanced nervously out the window next to me. I was relieved to see that the sky looked how it normally does in my hometown in Michigan-clear and blue.

"Gabriella?" I heard my mother, Maria, call from downstairs.

"Yes?" I acknowledged.

"Pack up your things," my mom instructed both abruptly and firmly.

"Why?" My heart skipped a beat as terror seized me, causing me to freeze. My mouth was kept partly open in shock, my chocolate eyes were large, and I didn't think I could manage to choke out any more words no matter how hard I tried.

My mom walked up the stairs and through the open doorway of my bedroom. "Gabby, I know it looks pleasant out now, but all this is going to change in about an hour. I was watching the news, and they said that everyone needs to evacuate this area as quickly as they can. We can't take any risks."

I couldn't budge.

"Gabby?" My mother questioned. "Come on; let's go."

"But Dad...." I protested hoarsely. My father, David, was at work at that particular moment.

"Dad will know to evacuate. Now hurry up; get ready to leave."

As I forced myself off my bed and began stuffing my necessitates into a suitcase, I felt as if I were in a horrible nightmare. This couldn't be happening! It just couldn't! Everything was fine at the time. I didn't understand why an evacuation was required. Wouldn't it be getting dark and windy if a tornado was coming?

.....

My mom and I got out of our family car and walked into the hotel we had just parked at. We were to stay there until we were given an 'okay' to go back home-if there even was an 'okay.' It had been growing very windy as we were exiting the tornado zone.

After getting assigned an hotel room, my mom turned on the TV that was located against one wall. She put it on the news, where a weather reporter was talking about the tornado.

"A twister cloud is visible in the northern end of the tornado zone," the reporter was saying. "It's pretty small now, but it will definitely grow in size within the next ten minutes. If anyone isn't out of the tornado zone, they'd better hide in a room without windows in whatever building they're in. It'll be almost impossible for them to come out of the tornado zone alive at this point."

"Is Dad coming?" I questioned as I shakily started pulling clothes out of my suitcase and placing them in the top drawer of the dresser that was in the room.

"I don't know," my mom admitted. "Why don't you try calling him?"

I reached into my small navy blue purse and pulled out my fairly new cell phone. Going to my contacts list, I selected my dad's number and pressed the 'talk' button. I then held the phone to my ear and held my breath while my heart raced and my palms began to feel sweaty. Would he answer?

"Hello?"

A wave of relief washed over me as I heard my father's voice. "Dad, are you alright? Are you out of the tornado zone?"

"No. I'm still at work."

"Are you hidden?"

"Yes."

"In a place on the first floor?"

"No. I was on the top floor when I received the tornado warning, so I decided to just find a place up here that will be sufficient enough," came my dad's reply.

"Dad! The top floor is dangerous! The tornado will hit that first! It might blow the roof off!"

"Well, I don't think I can move from my spot now."

I felt hot tears fill my eyes. "Dad, go downstairs!" I begged. "You can get hurt up there!" My father's work building was five stories high. I didn't think staying on the fifth floor would work out at all.

No reply came.

"Dad!"

Still no answer.

"Dad! Can you hear me?"

I looked at the screen of my phone. It revealed that the call had lost signal.

"I-I don't think Dad's gonna be alright," I sobbed, burying my face in my hands. "H-He's on the top floor of his work building. He-He said he would be okay, but I-I don't believe it."

"I guess all we can do is wait and find out if he lives," my mother told me while wiping a tear from one of her eyes.

.....

The next morning, the news showed my mom and I that our entire town was in ruins. Not a thing was left standing, and not a person who hadn't evacuated had survived the disaster that had just swept through. Hot, sorrowful tears poured down my face and fell onto my lap. I would never see my home again. I would never walk through the green grass of the local park. But, worst of all, I would never get another chance to see or talk to my father. There couldn't even be a funeral for him.

"Gabriella," my mother began as she walked slowly over to my hotel bed and sat beside me. She, too, had tears collecting on her cheeks.

"I-I n-never wanted this t-to happen," I wailed, clinging to my mom tightly like a little girl. She was the only immediate family member I had left. That was my reward for being an only child.

My mom hugged me in return. "I'll miss your father."

At a mention of my dad, I sobbed harder than I had been sobbing before. I couldn't stand to be hit again with the fact that he was no longer alive.

**.....**

**This is the first chapter of my rewrite of this story. I'm doing Gabriella's point of view for the entire thing now. Hopefully it's alright:)**

**Oh, and I have a new story: **_**Troy Bolton: Secret Agent. **_**And a fairly new one: **_**Whatever it Takes**_**. Just thought I'd let you all know!**


	2. The Boltons

A few days passed since the terrible day of the tornado. My mom and I had been staying shut in our hotel room, trying to figure out what we were going to do. The only times we left were when we were going out to eat. However, neither of us thought of anything we could do or anywhere we could go to live.

_Knock, knock._

At the sound of knocking on our door, my mom arose from her seat on her bed to go answer it. There, in the hall, stood a tall, bearded man holding a sheet of paper. "Mrs. Montez," he began, "I understand you're on the list of tornado victims."

I saw my mother nod her head.

"Well, there's a program going on where people offer to take in victims of disasters like tornados, hurricanes, and fires and allow them to stay at their homes until they can find somewhere to live," the man explained. "Would you be interested in participating in the program?"

"Alright," my mom agreed.

"Well then, you'll be staying in Albuquerque with the Boltons. I'll call them up and tell them you'll be flying into their state this evening. Well, if that's okay with you, that is."

"It's fine."

"Great. Well, a flight leaves from the local airport at two o' clock this afternoon."

"Okay. Thanks," my mom said.

**...**

We stepped off our plane, which had just landed in the Albuquerque airport. I was relieved that my home state, which now brought me so many bad memories, was behind me, though I was very nervous about living in a new place. I've never been real outgoing, and being a stranger was sort of nerve-wracking to me.

After getting our luggage, my mom and I came across a couple sitting on one of the airport benches along with a teenage boy appearing to be about my own age.

"Hi, are you Maria and Gabriella Montez?" asked the woman.

My mom and I both replied with a 'yes.'

"Welcome to Albuquerque, then! I'm Lucille Bolton, and this is my husband, Jack, and my son, Troy. He's sixteen and a junior in high school."

"Oh, Gabriella's the same age!" My mother pointed out.

"Oh, really? That's great! Troy can show her around the high school here-East High. Maybe they'll even be able to have some classes together!" Lucille spoke.

I set my eyes on Troy and, as I did, I suddenly realized that whoever claimed there was no such thing as love at first sight was completely mistaken. Everything about Troy-his messy brown hair, his clear sky blue eyes-everything was just wonderful.

"Um...hi?" Troy greeted, making his greeting sound more like a question as he caught me staring at him with a huge smile on my face.

I blushed and quickly turned away. The last thing I wanted was for Troy to think I had been trying to flirt with him.

"Well, are you all ready to get going back to our house?" Jack wanted to know.

I watched as everyone nodded. I joined in. The sooner we got out of here, the better. That way I wouldn't need to be tempted to look at Troy. However, in the car, I ended up sitting next to him in the backseat, so the pressure was back on. Thankfully, though, Troy was doing something on his cell phone. I guessed he was texting someone, but I wasn't positive. When we arrived at the Bolton house, he made no move to put his phone away.

"Troy," Lucille started, "Why don't you help Gabriella take her luggage up to your room? You did clean it up, did you?" she added hopefully.

"It's decent," Troy mumbled, speaking for the first time since my mom and I had gotten to Albuquerque.

"Troy, off the phone," Jack ordered. "Go help Gabriella."

"I gotta go. Sharpay wants me to meet her at the movies. See you all later," Troy responded, ignoring his father and heading for the front door.

I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously rush through my body. Sharpay was probably some beautiful girl who was lucky enough to be Troy's girlfriend.

"No, Troy, you'll stay and help make our guests welcome," Lucille ordered.

With a groan, Troy turned around and grabbed both of my suitcases from my hands. "Come on, Isabella, let's get these up to my room so that I can go out with my girlfriend."

"It's Gabriella," I timidly corrected before going into a silent fit of fierce jealously. _So this Sharpay girl is Troy's girlfriend! _

"Whatever," Troy grunted, starting to head upstairs. He led me into his room, where he fairly threw my things down on the bed. "Here's my room. Make yourself comfortable. Bye." With that, he was gone.

I sighed and began to unpack. I placed my clothes in one of the empty dresser drawers and piled my make-up upon the top of the dresser. My shoes I slid underneath the bed. After everything was out of my suitcases, I headed downstairs to see what my mom was up to. I didn't see her anywhere, but I saw Troy immediately. He was sitting on the living room sofa, sulking.

"Oh, it's just you," he mumbled in a slightly rude voice. "The girl who's taking my room and my life," he breathed underneath his breath. However, I could still make out his words.

"I'm sorry," I dared to apologize.

"Well, you should be," Troy responded harshly. "I could be having fun with my girlfriend, I could still have my bedroom, and why can't I have those things? Because of you, the poor little tornado victim who has no life."

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered.

"Yeah, I know. But it won't mean anything until you leave this house and let me have some well-deserved peace."

"I'm really, truly sorry. If I could have prevented the tornado, I would of, but I couldn't help it."

"Go back to my room and stop bugging me with your rants about being some poor girl who's looking for sympathy. Because I can assure you that you will get no sympathy from Troy Bolton."

Tears stung my eyes as I hurried back upstairs and into Troy's room, shutting the door behind me and flinging myself onto his bed. My love was ruined. There was no hope for it. Troy would never like me.

**...**

The next morning, I woke up around nine o' clock, which was fine; I wasn't starting at East High for a little while yet. My mom still had to fill out papers and stuff in order for me to start attending, so for the time, I could just relax and try to recover from the tornado.

After using the bathroom to take a hot shower, I went back into Troy's room and dressed in a fitted sky blue t-shirt, medium wash boot cut jeans, and white ballet flats. I blew my wet hair dry and tied it back into a neat low ponytail while leaving my bangs, which were swept over to the side, out of the hair tie. After that, I applied just the tiniest bit of neutral eye shadow to my eyelids and clear gloss to my lips.

When I was finished all that, I walked over to a photo of Troy that was hanging on the wall and stared dreamily at it. He had the most handsome eyes I had ever seen. I couldn't believe that he was as disgruntled as he was. Sighing, I left the room and headed downstairs, where I found my mom sitting at the dining room table with Lucille.

"Good morning, Gabriella," Lucille greeted me.

"Good morning, Gabby," my mom echoed.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Lucille offered. "If you look around in the kitchen, you'll find some cereal and fruit. Take whatever you like."

"Okay. Thank you," I responded as I headed into the kitchen. After selecting a banana and a small bowl of Froot Loops, I returned to the dining room and took a seat beside my mother.

"Gabriella, Lucille and I were just discussing you going to East High," my mom began. "She's having Jack bring home some papers for me to fill out-since he's the basketball coach there, he's at the school right now-so that I can sign you up. Hopefully, you'll be able to start school on Monday."

"That's great." I forced a smile. School was like murder to me. Sure, I loved learning, but at my old school, I had no friends, and ninety-nine percent of the students were mean to me.

"I think you're really going to like East High," Lucille told me.

"I-I'm sure I will," I stammered, peeling my banana.

"The first day, Troy can show you around."

"That'll be nice." Even though I spoke those words, I knew deep down inside that I would most definitely not be getting a school tour from Troy. He loathed me.

"Have you gotten a chance to get to know Troy yet?" my mom questioned.

I shook my head.

"Well he did kind of rudely run out last night," Lucille commented. "I'll have to have him hang out with you later today. If you're gonna be living with us, you and Troy might as well get on friendly terms."

"I'd love that," I mumbled dreamily, not realizing I was speaking aloud.

"What, Gabby?" my mother asked.

"Nothing," I quickly replied while rapidly shaking my head.

**...**

I was just opening up a book to read when a firm knock sounded at my-or rather Troy's-door. "Come in," I acknowledged.

The doorknob turned and the door slowly opened, revealing Troy.

"Um...hi," I greeted with a timid blush.

"Hi," Troy muttered. "My mom said that I _have_ to show you around the neighborhood and get to know you, so put on your shoes and let's get this over with. We're not going to linger at any places, we're not going to talk more than we have to. We're gonna make this quick and painless."

"Oh, okay," I responded, a little put back at Troy's strict orders as I closed my book and slipped my feet into my shoes.

"Nerd," I heard Troy mumble under his breath as he took in the fact that I had been reading. Louder, he said, "Let's go. Go outside and get into my car. The old beat-up truck parked along the sidewalk."

I listened to Troy, being sure to move speedily enough as he was right at my heels. Once in the car, an awkward silence swept over us. I dared not venture to speak because I didn't want to aggravate Troy more than he was already aggravated.

"This is the park," Troy mumbled as we passed a park, "And this is the movie theater, and this is the bowling alley..."

We went on in that manner until we arrived back at the Bolton house. Once there, Troy turned on the TV while I went back upstairs to continue reading. However, I was soon interrupted again by Troy, who informed me that his parents told him he _had_ to hang out with me.

"Okay," I began. "So..." I was tongue-tied.

"Well, I'm Troy, I'm a junior in high school, and basketball is my passion. I'm the captain of my school team, the Wildcats, my usual position is center, and I have a hot cheerleader girlfriend. No wait-_head_ cheerleader girlfriend. Her name is Sharpay Evans and we're the two most envied people at East High. We're the most popular, the best-looking, and the best couple. Everybody loves us."

I didn't know what to say. If I returned that information with a skimpy little, 'I'm Gabriella, I'm a high school junior, and I love to read,' surely I would get teased.

"Well, if you don't have anything to say, then..." Troy trailed off, taking his cell phone from his pocket and beginning to answer a text. Probably from Sharpay.

I still kept silent.

"Alright. Well, let's be done hanging out. I'll see you at dinner. Wait no-Sharpay wants me to take her out to dinner. I'll see you sometime." With that, Troy hurried out of the room.

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Things had been so awkward between Troy and I, and I was grateful that moment was now in the past. As much as I liked him, I knew he would never like me back. Besides, I had to learn to get over him: he was a jerk. And I knew better than to get together with jerks. But I just couldn't ignore the one feeling I felt that made things seem a little brighter. I felt that somewhere, deep down in his hard heart, Troy was good. He had to be. Everyone has at least _some_ good inside of them. Whether they use it or not, it's there. Though for some reason, I felt that Troy was going to use his good side. Maybe not for a while, but eventually. I would just have to be patient and wait for it to emerge.


	3. First Day at East High

The morning that I was to start at East High arrived. I got up promptly at six in the morning, took a shower, and dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a loose top that came a bit below the average ending point for most shirts. After that, I selected some ballet flats, slid them onto my feet, blew my hair dry, and quickly combed through it, making sure each curl was in place. Then, I applied my make-up: foundation, eye shadow, mascara, eye liner, blush, and lip gloss. It was only after I completed all those tasks that I hurried downstairs to eat breakfast.

"We're having waffles this morning," Lucille announced. "How many would you like?"

"Just one, please," I replied. After I received a plate with my breakfast upon it, I thanked Lucille, then went to the dining room table to eat, being sure to sit as far away from Troy as possible.

"Just _one_ waffle?" Troy questioned, making the situation sound like a big deal.

"I-I'm not that hungry," I stammered.

"No wonder you're skin and bones," Troy insulted. "You starve yourself. I have to have at least four waffles if I want to be filled up."

I didn't reply. Instead, I just ate my breakfast in silence. When I was finished, I cleaned up my space at the table, then waited until Troy was finished his meal to go to school. Yes, Troy's parents had said he _had_ to take me to and from school. I admit, I wasn't too thrilled with that idea myself, and I guessed, by the look on his face, that Troy wasn't, either.

"Come on, nerd," Troy commanded as he started walking out the door, his backpack in his hand.

I didn't say anything; I just followed the boy who's both my crush and my enemy out the door and into his truck.

The whole way to school Troy and I were silent. But not the kind of silent like the normal silent-we were silent as in uncomfortable silent. I struggled not to fidget with nervousness, as I didn't want to anger Troy. Once we reached East High, I fairly bounded out of the truck and through the large double doors leading to the interior of the building, not wanting to irritate Troy by staying right by his side.

As I tried to make my way through the crowded halls and to my assigned locker, I found myself colliding with someone. "I'm sorry," I apologized.

"You need to watch where you're going, you brat," scoffed a tall, muscular boy with curly, unruly short brown hair and a face that looked like it hadn't been shaved for a couple days.

"I-I'm sorry," I repeated, backing away.

"You'd better be," the boy growled, striking my arm with his strong hand. "I'm the captain of the football team, and I can kick your freakin' ugly butt anytime I want. So if you mess with me one more time, you're getting it."

I forced myself to hold back the tears that were gathering in my eyes due to the stinging affect the boy's smack on my arm had given me and the fact that he was scaring me half to death with his threats.

At that moment, a tall, blonde girl with a sparkly silver mini skirt and a tight, hot pink tank top with silver gems along the collar appeared. "Hey, William," she greeted, waving to the guy that had just smacked me. Then, she looked at me. "Oh, it's the tornado victim, isn't it? Just as Troy described you; a pathetic crybaby."

I really couldn't control my emotions any longer. So I sank down in a corner and sobbed. Uncontrollable sobs. My dad was gone, I had to move to this evil town of Albuquerque, and my first five minutes in this prison teenagers call high school were spent being bullied.

"Hey, are you alright?"

I lifted my head to see a dark-skinned girl about my age with straight, black-brown hair that reached a little above her shoulders. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, jeans, and a satiny headband that matched her shirt. "I...guess," I replied, embarrassed that someone had caught my crying.

"Are you new around here? I've never seen you before."

I nodded.

"Hi. I'm Taylor. What's your name?"

"Gabriella," I mumbled.

"Nice to meet you. I saw your trouble with William and Sharpay over there. You should stay away from them. They harass _everyone_ who's out of their class. No offence to you or anything. But they're the popular kids, and everyone else is just...average. Same with Troy Bolton. He's tall, has shaggy brown hair that falls in his eyes-"

"I know," I interrupted solemnly. "I live with him."

"Troy Bolton?"

"Yes."

"Oh, are you the girl from Michigan he was telling the whole school about? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! It must have been terrible to lose your home!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Yeah," I said in a barely audible tone. The last thing I wanted was to talk about the tornado.

"Hey, look! The nerd's hanging out with another nerd!" Sharpay, who was by Troy's side hanging on his arm, shouted at me as she walked by, causing Troy to laugh.

"You did not just insult me!" Taylor yelled.

_Wow, she's brave,_ I thought.

"You nerds have awful anger management," Sharpay commented as she shrugged her shoulders and skipped off, dragging Troy along with her.

**...**

On the way home from school, Troy bragged about everything he had done during the day: from shooting twenty-five baskets in a row to taunting a poor, helpless member of the Scholastic Decathlon, I heard about it. Then, he made some rude remarks about my clothing choice for the day. He told me that if I ever wanted a boyfriend, I had to wear clothing similar to Sharpay's.

Once home, I jumped out of the car and rushed inside, eager to get away from Troy. I can't believe I still like him! He's extremely nasty and terribly full of himself, but I just can't get over his handsome face-especially those ocean-colored eyes.

After briefly describing my first day at East High to my mom-leaving out my unfortunate encounter with William and Sharpay-I went upstairs to Troy's room to do my load of homework for the day. However, I wasn't left in peace for long. Soon, I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I responded.

The door opened and Troy stepped into the room holding his backpack.

"What do you want?" I sighed.

"My parents told me I should come up to keep you company while you do your homework," Troy answered. "I would rather go to Sharpay's and ditch homework altogether, but whatever. I never win against my mom and dad anyway."

"Well, get out your stuff and start working, then."

After working in silence for a few minutes, Troy asked, "Gabriella, where's your dad?"

"He...he died," I replied, my voice barely a whisper as I struggled to fight back tears. "In the tornado."

"I'm sorry," Troy acknowledged, actually sounding pleasant for once. I was expecting him to make some nasty remark about it.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"So, do you know anything about geometry? I'm sort of stuck on this problem."

I looked at his paper. The volume of a cylinder? How much easier could the problem be? "Yeah; I know how to do that."

For the rest of the time Troy and I were together, we alternated between doing homework and talking about different things. I was surprised at how polite Troy was being. _Hopefully he'll stay this way._

"Well, I need to go shoot some hoops in the park. Bye," Troy said. And just like that, he was gone.

I let out a deep sigh. I had been hoping to spend some more time with Troy.

**...**

That night, just as I was about to get into bed, I heard someone knock on my door. "Come in."

Troy came into the room. "Hey. Is it too late for me to come here to talk to you for a little while? With basketball and the spring dance coming up and everything, I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Sure," I smiled.

Troy shut the door and walked over to his bed, sitting down on it next to me. "If you were going to a dance, what type of flower would you want for your corsage?" he wanted to know.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I would take pretty much any type of flower. Why do you wanna know?"

"Well, my girlfriend-Sharpay..."

Oh, that stupid jealousy! Every time I hear her name...

"...She told me to get her a 'brilliantly fabulous' corsage for the dance. She said that if I got her one she didn't like, I would be in trouble. However, she never told me what kind she wanted, so I don't know what to get for her," Troy explained.

"Oh. Well, could you ask her what type of flower she wants?"

Troy shook his head. "She'll complain about me not knowing her well enough, then."

"I don't know what to say. I mean, I like all different types of flowers, but everyone's different. Maybe you could get her one in her favorite color? If you know what that is, anyway."

"Yeah, it's pink."

"Why don't you get her some sort of pink flower, then?"

"Okay. I'll do that. Hopefully I get the right style and size and everything."

"Don't worry; I think everything will be fine."

"If she likes you enough, she'll be grateful for any corsage. I don't think you should be up all night worrying about getting the wrong one," I told Troy.

"That's the thing; she likes me status, not me. I can tell."

"Why are you even with her, then?"

"To keep up my image at school. Right now, that's the only thing that matters to me-well, along with basketball, of course. The head cheerleader and basketball captain belong together; everybody knows that."

"But why?"

"Because we're alike. We're both thought of as high-class in the school. The football captain gets the head cheerleader of the football cheerleading team, too. It's just the way things are at East High."

"There's two separate cheerleading teams?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah; one for basketball and one for football."

"Well, anyway, could you get together with a cheerleader who's not the head cheerleader?"

"I don't know. I guess I could, but I'm just not interested in the other girls."

"Oh."

"But I'm trying to make things work out between Sharpay and I. I really think I do love her, but I'm just having a hard time letting the feeling out. I'm not sure if she loves me or not, though."

I began to feel bad for Troy. And severely jealous of Sharpay. "Well, I don't think I have any advice for that one; I've never dated anyone before."

"Really? You've never had a boyfriend?"

I shook my head shyly.

"Oh. Well, maybe you'll get one at school. That is, if you make yourself attractive enough. Maybe wear tight shirts and super mini skirts and-"

"Troy, I wanna be myself." A tear rolled down my cheek. "I thought you were really acting friendly toward me, but now I find out this was all just a plan to tease me." I got under the covers of Troy's bed. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Gabriella, I'm sorry," Troy apologized. "It's just how I automatically am. Things like that just come out. It's like a habit for me. Of course you want guys to like you for who you really are. Don't change yourself. I'm sorry."

To my surprise, Troy leaned over and gave me a hug, which I returned.

"Now, I'll let you get to bed. Good night," Troy said while, to both my surprise and delight, he placed a soft kiss onto my forehead. "I hope you sleep well. Get me if you need anything. And thanks for the advice."

I couldn't control my growing smile.

"Yeah, I think we'll be good friends, too," Troy smiled back. I guessed that he had thought the smile was on my face because I thought I was making a good friend.

As soon as Troy left the room, I nearly squealed with delight as I grabbed my diary and wrote inside of it:

_March 24, 2009_

_Troy gave me a hug and then he kissed my forehead! Yay! I'm so happy!_

_Gabriella_


	4. You Belong With Me

The next day at school, Troy ignored me. I figured that it had something to do with his status at East High so I didn't bother going up to him or anything, but it still just hurt my feelings. A lot. I want Troy to be a real friend to me, not one that's always off and on like a light switch.

"Troooy!" I heard Sharpay whine as Troy walked away from her to go to his locker.

I sighed. That girl was so annoying.

Sharpay looked at me. Evidentially, I was standing too close to Troy for her liking, so she came over and slapped my arm. "Stay away from my boyfriend," she demanded.

I didn't bother defending myself. I just ran away from Sharpay as quickly as I could and went out to Troy's truck to wait for him to be ready to leave school so that we could go back to his house.

Minutes later, Troy appeared. "Hey. I saw what happened with you and Sharpay."

I shrugged. "Really?"

"Yeah. And though it might have been kind of mean, don't judge her. This is just...well, how she is."

_But she smacked me!_ I wanted to protest. However, I bit my tongue to prevent the words from spilling out.

**...**

That afternoon, I helped Troy with his homework again. After we were done that, he decided to take me with him to get ice cream. That surprised me; I mean, wouldn't he want to take his girlfriend rather than a girl who was just his friend? Oh, well. I was happy. I like spending time with Troy.

"So, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" Troy asked as we walked along the neighborhood sidewalk to get to the ice cream place.

"Chocolate." I giggled. "How about you?"

"Peanut butter."

"What? I didn't even know they made peanut butter ice cream!"

"Well, they do."

Just then, a girl blocked our path. It was Sharpay.

"Hey," she greeted, sounding falsely cheerful. "Troy, why are you with this tornado girl? Where are you going with her? And I've been watching you-you were having a good time with her so far on your little walk. You told me you hated her. You lied to me. You don't think she's pathetic. You like her." Her voice became icier and icier with every word she spoke.

"Oh, no, it's not what you think. My parents just forced me to bring her along to get ice cream," Troy protested.

"But you were _smiling._"

"I teased her. That's why."

"But she was laughing."

"Yeah, because she teased me, too."

Sharpay grabbed my arm, digging her long, manicured fingernails into my skin and brought her free hand to my cheek, striking it so hard it made a loud slap sound. An almost unbearable stinging sensation occurred immediately as tears tricked down my face. "You don't hate on my Troy!" she screamed.

"Sharpay. Stop." Troy commanded sternly.

_Finally. He steps in,_ I thought, relieved.

"I'm gonna be openly honest with you, Sharpay. Gabriella didn't tease me. And I didn't tease her. But she's my friend. Who cares if I have a good time with her?"

"That little brat shouldn't even be here. She should be at her home. I don't care if it's not there anymore. She should have left this world with it. _I_ should be the only girl in your life. And you lied to me. It's like you're hiding something. Maybe a...I don't know...relationship?"

"You're my only _girlfriend._ I'm allowed to have girls as friends, too. There's nothing going on between the two of us."

"Who said? Because I sure didn't give you permission to get a girl friend."

"We'll finish this discussion later." Troy led me around Sharpay.

"Was that just your girlfriend being herself again?" I asked.

Troy nodded. "Yeah."

"You know, you deserve a better girl."

"Like who?"

_Me,_ I answered silently. Aloud I said, "I don't know. But I'm sure at school you could find a girl who would treat you right."

"I'm sorry Sharpay hit you. Is your cheek okay?" Troy spoke, changing the topic as he glanced at my cheek to see how bad it looked.

"I think so. It just hurts," I replied.

Troy suddenly leaned over and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry."

"Troy!" I heard Sharpay yell.

Troy turned to look at the angry blonde that was running toward us, almost falling because of her high heeled sandals. "Sharpay, what's your problem? We're just going to get ice cream!"

"You kissed her!" Sharpay screamed at the top of her lungs. "You _kissed_ her! You're cheating on me!"

"I just kissed her forehead," Troy responded. "It's not that big of a deal. You need to get over things like this. Just because I talk to other girls doesn't mean I'm cheating on you."

"But you. Kissed. Her." Sharpay's face was turning red from anger. When she was done speaking, she walked up behind me and pulled my hair. Hard.

"Sharpay," Troy warned, his voice firm. "Go away."

"You don't tell me to go away. I'm coming with you to get ice cream whether you like it or not. Something tells me I have to supervise you when you're around this tornado girl." She tugged on my hair again.

"Come on, Gabriella. We're going home," Troy told me, turning around to take me back to his house.

"Why are you going home?" Sharpay demanded.

"We've had enough of this."

"Enough of what?"

"You," Troy answered boldly.

Sharpay gasped. "But, I love you! And you love me, too! Remember? You said so yourself only a week after our first date. And you kiss me every morning! Wait...no, you forgot to kiss me this morning! You really don't like me!"

We just kept walking until we reached Troy's house. Once there, we went inside and hurried up to Troy's room before one of the parents saw us and noticed the mark on my cheek. As soon as the door was closed behind us, I began to cry.

"I'm sorry Sharpay was so mean to you," Troy apologized, pulling me into a hug. "I really want to be friends with you; I want you to know that. I'll just have to call Sharpay and talk things over with her. Maybe if I can manage to assure her there's nothing going on between us, she'll learn to accept you."

"Hopefully." I smiled through my tears.

"Now, let me go call her." Troy left the room and went into the hall, where I could still hear his conversation through the closed door.

"Sharpay, you have to understand that I have friends. My world doesn't revolve around you," Troy was saying.

I sighed as, after a pause, Troy continued to tell Sharpay that he and I weren't dating. However, she must have been giving him a hard time because he kept repeating the same words over and over, his voice sounding louder and firmer each time. Suddenly, I couldn't take listening to it anymore. So I grabbed my ipod from its spot, put the earphones in my ears, and found my favorite song.

_You're on the phone  
With your girlfriend  
She's upset  
She's going off about  
Something that you said  
'Cause she doesn't get your humor  
Like I do  
_

_I'm in the room  
It's a typical Tuesday night  
I'm listening to the kind of music  
She doesn't like  
She'll never know your story  
Like I do  
_

_But she wears short skirts  
I wear t-shirts  
She's cheer captain  
And I'm on the bleachers  
__Dreaming about the day  
When you wake up and find  
That what you're looking for  
Has been here the whole time_

_If you could see  
That I'm the one  
Who understands you  
Been here all along  
So why can't you  
See you belong with me  
You belong with me _

_Walking the streets  
With you and your worn out jeans  
I can't help thinking  
This is how it ought to be  
__Laughing on a park bench  
Thinking to myself  
Hey, isn't this easy?_

_And you've got a smile  
That could light up this whole town  
I haven't seen it in awhile  
Since she brought you down  
You say you're fineI know you better than that  
Hey what you doing  
With a girl like that?_

I began to sing along, softly so that Troy wouldn't hear me.

_She wears high heels  
I wear sneakers  
She's cheer captain  
I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming about the day  
When you wake up and find  
__That what you're looking for  
Has been here the whole time_

_If you could see  
That I'm the one  
Who understands you  
Been here all along  
So why can't you see  
You belong with me_

_Standing by and  
Waiting at your back door  
All this time  
How could you not know  
Baby  
You belong with me  
You belong with me._

_ I remember  
You driving to my house  
In the middle of the night  
I'm the one who makes you laugh  
When you know you're about to cry  
And I know your favorite songs  
And you tell me about your dreams  
I think I know where you belong  
I think I know it's with me  
_

_Can't you see  
__That I'm the one  
Who understands you  
Been here all along  
So why can't you see?  
Have you ever thought  
Just maybe  
You belong with me?_

As I finished, I looked up to see Troy standing in his room, looking at me. "Wow. You're a good singer," he commented.

I blushed at the compliment. "Thanks."

"So, I talked to Sharpay and I think I got everything sorted out," Troy announced, sitting on his bed beside me. "She said she would try to be nice to you."

"Really? Thanks, Troy." I smiled.

"So, do you wanna go get that ice cream now?" Troy wanted to know. We can take my car so that we don't have to worry about running into Sharpay while walking."

I nodded. "Sure. And also, thanks for standing up for me."

"No problem," Troy acknowledged, his voice sounding almost dreamy as he looked me in the eyes.

_Does he like me?_ I wondered to myself.


	5. A Fight

The next Friday, I said good-bye to Troy with jealously burning in my body. He was leaving for the spring dance with Sharpay, the girl who I strongly believed had no real feelings for him and absolutely zero respect for anyone.

"Bye, Gabriella," Troy returned, giving me a hug. Then, after a pause, he added, "You could come with me if you want; you don't need a date to go to a spring dance."

I returned Troy's hug. "No, thanks. I'm not at all prepared to go to a dance." Although I said those words aloud, they were a lie. That wasn't the real reason I didn't want to go to the dance. The real reason I didn't want to go was because I would have to watch Troy dance with and maybe even make out with Sharpay. And there was no way I could watch that stuff without feeling sad and angry.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you in a few hours, then." Troy let go of me and, with one last wave, exited the house.

I sighed and walked back upstairs to Troy's room. I wished I were the lucky girl who got the privilege to date Troy. The night before, I even thought he was beginning to like me. _I was probably just imagining it_, I told myself.

**...**

"Come in," I invited. It was ten o' clock at night, and I was curled up in bed reading a book, waiting until I got too sleepy to stay awake any longer.

Troy came into his room. He had a terribly dejected expression on his face. "Sharpay hated the corsage," he revealed. "She crushed it, and then threw it in the trash-all right in front of me."

"Really?" I put my book away.

"Yeah," Troy answered. "And I spent thirty dollars on that corsage just to try to make her happy. Then all she did was toss it in the trash."

"That's horrible," I murmured sympathetically.

"I know," Troy agreed, sitting down beside me.

"So, other than that incident, did you have a good time?"

"Kind of. I mean, Sharpay was all over William-the captain of the football team-so I didn't really get to dance with her. Also, most of the other girls mobbed me and were begging for a dance. After a while, I got tired of dancing, and I had to make them all leave me alone."

"I guess that's what happens when you're popular," I said.

Troy nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of annoying."

"I thought you liked being popular?"

"I do. I like that no one teases me at school and that people know who I am. It just gets irritating when I'm being mobbed by girls I don't have any interest in."

"I could never stand being popular. I'm too shy for that," I told Troy.

"Sometimes I wish I were shy, because I tease people, and sometimes I make them cry. I used to feel good about myself after doing that, but lately, I've felt so guilty about it. I think the only reason I do it anymore is to make Sharpay happy."

"Why are you with her?" I asked. "You don't seem like you're that into her."

"I'm not," Troy confirmed. "Well, not anymore. I thought we were in love, but now, whenever she kisses me, I just want to pull away and tell her off."

"Then break up with her."

"And break the unwritten rules of the school? No way!"

"What unwritten rules of the school?" I wanted to know.

"The captain of the basketball team must date the head cheerleader. Popular kids and nerds can't hang out. You know, stupid rules like those. That's why I'm hiding our friendship at school."

"I wish you didn't have to."

"Well, I need to keep my status." Troy shrugged.

"You mean, how people at school view you is more important than our friendship?" My feelings became deeply hurt.

"Oh, no! That's not what I mean at all!" Troy exclaimed hurriedly.

"But what you just said..." I trailed off, unable to speak any longer as large tears formed in my eyes, threatening to roll down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand. However, more immediately came.

"Are you crying?" Troy questioned, looking at the single tear that had begun to trickle down my cheek.

"No," I lied. "It's just my allergies."

Troy accepted that response until another tear escaped from my eye. "Gabriella, are you sure you're not crying?"

I burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, rubbing my back before pulling me into a hug.

I didn't answer.

Troy let go of me. "Listen, Gabriella, I absolutely _have_ to hide our friendship. If the school ever found out, I would be teased until I graduated. Jocks don't mix with nerds. Everyone knows that. And I need to keep it that way."

"S-So you care m-more about your p-popularity than my feelings? I-Is that what y-you're saying?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"N-Now you're lying t-to me," I sobbed.

"Gabriella, I'm not lying. Now do you want to be friends or not?" Troy spoke sharply, causing me to flinch.

"Yes. I-I do."

"Well then, you need to try to understand me. You don't know what I go through every day at school just to stay in the rank I'm in. You don't know how pressuring it is for me to do that."

I couldn't speak. My throat was too choked up with tears.

"Are you still gonna talk to me?"

I ran into Troy's closet, the only place I could go to get away from Troy without risking the parents in the house seeing I was crying, and pulled the door closed.

"Gabriella, what's going on?"

I didn't answer.

Troy was silent for a few minutes. I thought he had left the room.

"Troy?" I called. "Are you still out there?"

"Yeah," Troy replied.

I decided to climb out of my hiding space. "Troy, you're selfish, stubborn, and an idiot," I began coldly. "What kind of guy dates a girl just so that he can keep his status? What kind of guy denies a good friendship in public because he's embarrassed of his friend?"

"Gabriella, settle yourself," Troy demanded, grabbing my arms.

"I can't. I don't even think we should be friends anymore. You're not a real friend. You're like a light switch. You're on when we're alone, but you're off when we're in public. Well, except around Sharpay."

"You're wrong. I told Sharpay today that I really hated you and that I was lying when I said about us being friends last week. And why? Because she freakin' went and told the whole school about our friendship! Now Monday, everything will be back to normal. It was already starting to get normal at the dance. That's why all the girls were coming up to me."

"You said you didn't like the girls coming up to you! You're confusing me! Who's side are you on? Mine or Sharpay's? And I thought you were trying to prevent the school from finding out about us being friends! You acted like no one knew a minute ago, but apparently, Sharpay told everyone!"

"I'm on your side when we're alone, but Sharpay's when we're out. After the disaster with Sharpay last week, I'm not telling anyone else about us being friends. And I meant that I didn't want the school to find out the truth about us being friends. I fixed things for myself, so now everyone thinks our friendship was a big made-up story."

"So you really did lie to Sharpay tonight and tell her we were never friends?"

"Yes."

I sighed. "Troy-"

"I know. Your delicate feelings are damaged. But that's too bad. Learn to live with it." Troy turned his back on me.

I sank down onto Troy's bed, burying my tear-stained face into a large, fluffy pillow. Troy's words were killing me like a stab in the heart. I couldn't believe him. He was a jerk, but then he had become sweet. And now he was back to being a jerk. I should've known the good attitude wouldn't last.

"Gabriella, look at me," Troy instructed, his voice surprisingly gentle.

I lifted my face and allowed my sad eyes to meet Troy's.

Troy cupped my face in one of his hands. "Gabriella, I'm sorry. I was an idiot. You were trying so hard to make me change, but I refused. You're right; I am stubborn. And I shouldn't be dating Sharpay."

"You really agree with me?"

"Gabriella, Sharpay made me a worse person than I already was. So, why should I be with her? I need to be with someone who will help me be kinder and more considerate. I shouldn't care about my status at school anymore."

I smiled. "So are you gonna get a girlfriend in a lower class than you?"

"No, I want to get one in a higher class."

My smile faded. "Troy..."

"And by a higher class girlfriend, I mean that I want one that's sweet, kind, polite, and will help me with my problem of being a jerk."

My smile returned.

Suddenly, Troy's lips crashed down upon mine, leaving me shocked. However, I kissed back. When we pulled away from one another, I asked, "What was that for?"

"Gabriella, you're the girl I need. I love you."

"I love you, too," I returned, blushing.

Troy and I leaned in for another kiss. I couldn't believe what was actually happening! I, Gabriella Montez, the least-liked nerd in school, was becoming Troy Bolton's girlfriend!


	6. Together

"You kiss so much better than Sharpay," Troy commented, sounding as amazed as I was about what had just happened while he pulled away from our second kiss.

"Thank you," I responded, the smile on my lips refusing to disappear.

Troy wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Hey, tomorrow's Saturday, isn't it? We can have our first date. That is, if you want to go out with me this soon."

"I'd love to go out," I replied sincerely.

"Awesome. Sharpay's probably still awake now. I'll call her and tell her that my date with her is off tomorrow evening and that we're no longer a couple. Then, we can decide what we're doing for our date."

"Okay."

Troy reached for his cell phone and dialed Sharpay's number. While he was talking to her, I could hear loud cries emitting from the speaker of the phone, questioning his actions, and then a scream of dismay after Troy informed her they were breaking up because he wanted to be with me.

"It didn't sound like it went very well," I remarked after Troy hung up the phone.

"No, it didn't go well at all. She was totally freaking out and she's furious that I'm supposedly 'moving to a lower class at East High.' But who cares? I don't need a girlfriend like that. She's a brat."

"Exactly," I said, wrapping my arms around Troy.

Troy hugged me in return. "I'm so glad we're together," he murmured softly in my ear.

"So am I." I yawned.

"You look sleepy. Why don't you get some rest?" Troy stroked my hair lovingly as the words came out of his mouth.

"Okay," I agreed. "Though I just have one question. Will you sleep next to me?"

"In my bed next to you?"

I nodded.

"If you want me to."

I nodded again.

"Alright." Troy followed me under the covers of his bed, turning out the light next to him as he did so. Once we were settled, he kissed me good-night, then pulled my body close to his as we shut our eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**...**

The next morning, I awoke to find myself nestled in Troy's arms, my head resting on his firm chest. _Is this a dream?_ I wondered silently, rubbing my eyes and gazing around the room. _I have to be dreaming! This can't be real! Troy doesn't like me as a girlfriend..._

"Good morning, baby girl," Troy greeted sleepily, releasing me from his tight grip as he stretched and yawned.

_It's not a dream!_ I reminded myself._ It's not a dream! Troy really wants me to be his girlfriend. He really likes me! _Aloud, I said, "Good morning."

"Did you have a good night last night?"

I nodded, a smile creeping onto my face. "Yeah. Did you?"

"Definitely."

"We should do this again sometime."

"How about tonight?"

"Sure. Now I'm gonna go take a shower and start getting ready."

"Can I come with you?"

I giggled, shook my head, and placed a kiss onto Troy's cheek. "No, Wildcat. Not today. I think you can bear to spend ten minutes without me being right at your side."

"I was just kidding," Troy spoke, pulling me into a tight hug. "I knew you wouldn't let me come with you."

I embraced Troy in return.

"You know, this is nice. How about we stay in bed for another hour and just kind of...you know...hang out? I mean, if we're gonna date, we should know a good amount of things about each other. Don't you think so?"

"Good idea," I smiled. "So, what's your favorite color?"

"I have two-red and white. Go Wildcats!"

I giggled at the enthusiasm Troy spoke with. "Of course. I should've known. I like sky blue and purple."

"Those colors look pretty on you, too," Troy told me, obviously noticing the medium purple tank top and blue shorts the same shade as his ocean-colored irises that I was wearing.

"Thanks. Blue looks good on you, too."

"How do you know?"

"Your eyes..." I murmured, the words flowing from my mouth in a slow, dreamy manner.

"You like my eyes?"

"They're handsome," I responded.

"Well, you have pretty eyes, too," Troy told me. "I've always liked the shade of brown eyes you have on girls. They're not too dark, but not too hazel. And the shape of them is perfect; not too big or too small. They're perfect for you."

"Thanks."

"Another thing I love about you are your curls. They're beautiful, soft, and natural."

"I love your lips," I said, "Because when I'm kissing them, I feel like no one else is in the world except for us."

"I love your smile."

I giggled. "Yours is nice, too."

_Knock, knock._ The banging noise at the door crushed the moment.

"Who's there?" Troy called out.

"It's me," came Lucille's voice from right outside the room.

"Come in."

I gave Troy a questioning look filled with fear. Would his mom become angry at the two of us for sleeping in the same bed? Would she tell my mom? Would we both end up getting punished?

"Troy, what's going on here?" Lucille demanded.

"Gabriella's my girlfriend," Troy revealed. Apparently, he had felt my body tense up, for he pulled me closer to him while running his fingers through my hair and kissing the top of my head.

I relaxed as I saw a smile come across Lucille's face. "Oh, really? When did this happen?"

"Last night."

"I'm so happy! I was so sick of Sharpay. She's quite snobby."

"I know."

"And I completely approve of you and Gabriella dating."

"That's good." Troy kissed my cheek and pulled me on top of him so that my head was resting on his chest and my legs were tangled with his. His hand still hadn't ceased caressing my hair.

"Well, anyway, I was just looking for you, Troy, since you weren't downstairs, and also, I wanted to let both you and Gabriella know that I made eggs and bacon for breakfast if you would like any."

"Okay, Mom. We'll be down in a minute."

"Alright." Lucille exited the room.

"I was afraid we would get in trouble," I confessed to Troy.

"In trouble for what?" Troy wanted to know.

"Both sleeping in here last night."

"Aw, baby girl, we were just sleeping. It's harmless. I don't see how we could get punished for doing something people do every day."

"I guess I just get paranoid easily," I sighed.

"That's okay. Do you wanna go get some breakfast? It doesn't matter if you're showered and everything yet or not."

"Sure," I agreed, staring to wriggle out of Troy's arms to enable myself to slide off the bed.

"Wait, wait, wait," Troy instructed, tightening his hold on me.

"Why?"

"You didn't get your good morning kiss yet." Troy began to kiss my lips.

"Oh, right," I mumbled, returning the symbol of affection with a smile. I still couldn't help but wonder whether or not I was dreaming. All this seemed so real, but so dream-like at the same time.


	7. First Date

I walked down the stairs dressed in a deep violet dress that had a touch of shimmer in the fabric. It had wide straps which fit perfectly around my small shoulders, a semi-deep v-neck, and a hem that came to my knees. My hair was left down in its natural curls, and my make-up had a bit more glitter than usual. On my feet, I wore wedge-heeled sandals of a color that perfectly coordinated with my dress, and in one hand, I held a black evening purse.

"Wow," Troy breathed as he laid his eyes on me, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I responded with a slight blush. "And you look handsome."

"Thank you. I really tried to make myself look better than usual for our date."

"Well, you did a good job," I smiled, taking in how good Troy looked in his crisp, clean suit.

Troy smiled in return as he took my hand. "Come on; let's go."

**...**

Once Troy pulled into a parking space at a fancy restaurant, he helped me out of his car, then led me into the fairly large building before us. After we were seated at a candle-lit table, he said, "You know, coming here with Sharpay wouldn't be nearly this romantic."

I smiled and let out a small giggle. "Thanks."

Just then, a waitress came over to out table, placing a glass of water at each of our spaces. "Would you like anything to drink besides this water?" she asked.

Troy and I both said that just having the water was fine, as most of the other beverages available were alcoholic, and we were obviously both underage.

"What are you getting to eat?" Troy wondered after we had looked at our menus for a little while.

"I was thinking about the salmon," I replied.

"That sounds good. Maybe I'll get that, too."

"Copycat," I teased.

"Hey, I was thinking ordering that all day," Troy protested in a playful tone.

I giggled.

**...**

When we were finished our meal, we each got a slice of triple-layered dark chocolate cake, ate it, paid for the food, and left.

"That was a nice date," I remarked in the car. "I had a lot of fun."

Troy smiled at me before starting the noisy engine of his truck. "Yeah, I had a good time, too. Now, do you want to go home, get changed, and watch a movie?"

"Sounds good," I answered.

"Great. I can't wait to get out of this suit. It's very itchy."

"Then why did you wear it?"

"Because I didn't want to look like a slob, especially since I was going to be with a girl who's absolutely gorgeous."

I smiled at those words. Even though I've only been with Troy for about twenty-four hours, he already seems like he'll be a really sweet boyfriend.

**...**

Once at home, Troy and I both changed into comfy t-shirts and shorts-in separate rooms, of course-then grabbed a couple blankets from Troy's bedroom and headed downstairs. After Troy put a DVD in the DVD player, we cuddled close to one another and wrapped ourselves up in the blankets.

"This is the best night ever," I commented, resting my head on Troy's shoulder.

"Same here," Troy agreed, pushing the 'play' button on the remote control and wrapping his arms around me.

I yawned.

"You're sleepy, aren't you?" Troy murmured, nuzzling his nose against mine before pressing a loving kiss onto it.

I nodded.

"Well, do you want to go to bed now?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't have to. But if I get too tired, I might fall asleep on you."

Troy responded with a smile and a kiss.

**...**

The next morning, I opened my eyes to find myself in Troy's living room, wrapped in both blankets and Troy's arms. _Troy and I must have fallen asleep down here last night,_ I realized, remembering how sleepy I had been the previous evening while watching that movie with my new boyfriend.

"Gabriella," someone said.

I looked around. Catching sight of my mom, I blushed and hid my face in Troy's shoulder, terribly embarrassed that I had been caught sleeping in my current position.

"What's up?" my mom asked.

"Nothing." I shrugged. "Troy and I were just watching a movie last night and then we both must have fallen asleep down here, so that's why we're down here." _That sounded totally stupid,_ I told myself.

"Oh. Well, I think I'm gonna go shopping for a little bit today if you want to go along. I don't know if you need any more clothes or not."

"No. I think I'll stay here," I decided, making sure my voice stayed soft to prevent Troy from waking up.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded.

"Hey, sweetheart," Troy greeted sleepily as he opened his handsome eyes.

"Hey," I returned, running my fingers through his disheveled locks of hair. "Sorry if I woke you."

"No, you didn't wake me," Troy responded, kissing my cheek.

"Troy, my mom's watching," I whispered in my boyfriend's ear.

Troy quickly pulled away from me and turned his attention to the TV, which was displaying the DVD menu that was on the screen as a result of nobody turning the movie off after it had ended hours before.

I stretched a little before standing up from the sofa.

"Where are you going?" Troy questioned, his eyes following me.

"To take a shower," I replied, heading upstairs.

Troy jumped out of his seat and chased after me. As soon as he was able to get his hands on me, he lifted me off the ground and spun me in circles until I, through my laughter, begged him to put me down.

"No way will I put you down," Troy told me.

"Troy, what are you doing?"

Troy froze at the sound of his father's voice, causing a faint giggle to escape from my mouth. "Um...I was just...uh...playing around with Gabriella?" He made his statement sound more like a question.

"Well, why don't you get something to eat? I want you to go with me to Chad's house today, and I need to leave in an hour. I have to talk to his dad about something, and you know how Chad gets when he's unoccupied and there's a serious conversation regarding basketball going on."

"Okay, Dad." Troy put me back on the ground and, one of his arms around my shoulders, guided me into the kitchen to find some breakfast.

"Who's Chad?" I wanted to know. "A little boy?"

Troy laughed. "No. He's a guy our age and, actually, my best friend. He's been on vacation for a couple weeks, so I guess that's why you haven't met him yet. Though he sure does act a lot younger than he really is."

I giggled.

"Why don't you come with me? I mean, if your mom and my dad say it's alright."

"I'd be happy to go! I'll ask my mom right now." Running out of the kitchen, I found my mother and made my request. She said 'yes' to it, so I rushed back to Troy and told him I was able to go along to Chad's.

"Awesome," Troy acknowledged. "Now, let's just eat breakfast and get ready so that we can go." As he spoke, he handed me a bowl of cereal.

"Thanks," I smiled, following Troy over to the dining room table.

"Hey, sit next to me," Troy invited when I took a seat across from him.

I willingly accepted the invitation.

"I had a great date last night," Troy remarked.

"So did I. Who did you go out with?"

"Oh, just some girl named Gabriella Montez that I happen to know from school. I think she has dark, curly hair and beautiful brown eyes. Who'd you date?"

"This guy called Troy Bolton. I'm almost positive he's the captain of the basketball team at East High, and he has the dreamiest blue eyes. You might have heard of him before."

Troy pretended to be thoughtful. "Hm...I could have."

Giggling, I laid my head on Troy's shoulder.

"You know, I think we're running out of time to eat. We should probably start getting ready." Troy pushed his half-eaten meal away from him and rose from the table. "Wanna shower with me to make things go faster?"

"Troy Alexander Bolton! You will do no such thing!"

"Neither will you, Gabriella Anne Montez!"

Troy and I turned around to see both of our mothers standing right behind us, stern looks on their faces. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

"Troy, you're grounded," Lucille said.

"You, too, Gabriella."

"Mom, I was joking!" Troy protested. I knew he wasn't just saying that to try to get out of trouble. When he had been talking to me, I was able to tell he was asking me to shower with him as a joke.

"How can I be sure of that?" Lucille asked.

"Gabriella knows."

"Gabriella, were you gonna say 'yes' to that question?" My mom demanded.

"No," I replied. "Besides, I'm positive Troy was just playing around with me."

"But how can I be sure of that?" My mom pressed. Then, without waiting for an answer, she announced, "The response you gave me won't make me say 'no' to you being grounded. You will remain inside with no TV, no computer, and no hanging out alone with Troy for two weeks."

"But Mom-"

"No arguing."

"The same will go for you, too, Troy," Lucille decided.

"I was kidding! I always play around with her like that!"

"Well, it needs to end. Because one day, your 'playing around' will go too far."

I felt Troy's hand squeeze mine as a signal for me to follow him upstairs. I happily complied, eager to get away from that awkward situation I was experiencing at the moment.

"Where do you two think you're going?" My mom insisted.

"We're going to set some serious rules here," Lucille added.

"Like what?" Troy groaned, wheeling around. I did the same.

"From now on, if you're both going to sleep in Troy's room like you did the other night, the door will have to be kept open so we're able to see what's going on in there," Lucille spoke.

"You two shared a room?" My mom exclaimed, horror taking over her voice. "Oh, Gabriella!"

"We didn't do anything!" I responded. "We were just sleeping!"

"I saw them. They _were _just sleeping," Lucille cut in, much to my relief.

"Fully clothed?" My mother checked, causing me to groan in embarrassment.

"Yes," Lucille answered.

_Thank you,_ I thought.

My mom sighed and looked at me. "Alright. I guess sleeping with Troy in his bed is alright. But like Lucille said, the door must be kept open. And also, I mean it about no shared showers. If I find out you were doing that, I will not be happy at all. You're too young for it."

"So are you, Troy. You just turned seventeen at the end of September. Even though you're less than a year away from becoming an adult, you're not old enough to handle something like that," Lucille said.

"We won't do anything!" Troy insisted. "Now are you done with us?"

"Do you realize how serious this is?"

Troy nodded.

"You, too, Gabby?" My mom asked.

"Yes."

Our moms finally, though a little reluctantly, gave us permission to leave the room.

"I guess we won't be going to Chad's now," Troy surmised while we walked upstairs.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But at least we'll get to spend more time together."

"That's true," Troy smiled, kissing my lips lightly as we entered his room.

"I sure didn't like that talk our moms gave us," I told Troy. "It was really embarrassing. I can't believe they thought we were both lying when we said you were kidding about the shower thing."

"Oh, it sure was embarrassing," Troy agreed. "And I guess we can just never have a shower together." His eyes scanned the carpet.

"You actually wanted to?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I want to help a girl as beautiful as you wash up?"

My cheeks turned crimson as I smiled a shy smile. "Well," I began, "They never said anything about not being able to take baths."

"Oh yeah; you're right! I'll remember that for when the time comes."

"What do you mean by 'when the time comes?'"

"When we're home alone and no one can stop us from doing anything. Then, if our parents somehow find out when they get home, we can say they never said we couldn't do it." Troy touched his lips to my cheek. "You are brilliant."

"Thank you," I giggled.

"Troy, Gabriella, are you guys almost ready to go?" Jack questioned.

"Um, I don't think we can go now. We're kind of...grounded..." Troy started.

"Grounded? Minutes before I have to go talk to Chad's father about something important?" Jack groaned. "Thanks a lot! Now Mr. Danforth and I will have to put up with Chad's irritating behavior!"

"Sorry, Dad," Troy mumbled.

"It's fine. I'll just go call and say I can't go anymore."

I giggled as Jack left Troy's doorway. "Is Chad really that horrible?"

"It's worse than it seems, Gabriella. It's worse than it seems," came Troy's response.

**...**

**Hey, I have the first half to a new twoshot posted! It's called **_**It's Like Catching Lightning.**_** Please go check it out if you didn't already:) I tried to improve my writing skills in it.**


	8. Unexpected Visitors

"I still can't believe we're grounded," Troy said the next evening after he and I had finished our homework.

"Well, the worst part is that we can't be home alone with each other," I pointed out.

"And all because of a little joke."

"I know," I sighed.

"So, what do you wanna do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. We can't watch a movie since we're grounded from TV. We can't take a walk because we're not allowed outside. There isn't much to do, I guess."

"We could cuddle," Troy suggested.

"Good idea," I responded.

Troy and I climbed under the covers of his bed and pressed close against each other, Troy wrapping his strong arms around my waist and kissing the top of my head.

"I love you," I murmured, gazing into Troy's ocean-colored eyes.

"I love you, too," Troy returned before leaning in to give me a kiss, which I returned eagerly.

"Having fun?" I questioned.

Troy nodded. "Yeah. Sharpay would never do this with me. She thought cuddling was a waste of time and, according to her, it wrinkled her clothes."

"How did you bond with her if she never wanted to do things like this?"

"I didn't, really. The only affectionate thing she would ever want to do with me was kiss and, sometimes, hug. Though she hugged in a really irritating, clingy way," Troy replied as he pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Are my hugs okay?"

"They're perfect, sweetheart. I look forward to getting them every day."

I smiled and rested my head on Troy's chest, my arms fastening around his body.

"Troy, Gabriella, come down here for a minute!" Lucille called up the stairs.

I heard Troy groan as he sat up with me still in his arms, and slid off the bed. He then carried me out of his room and down the staircase. Upon entering the dining room, we saw that our parents, along with some people I didn't recognize, we sitting in the seats that were around the table.

"Who are these people?" I asked in a whisper.

"My aunt, uncle, and annoying five-year-old cousin," Troy answered quietly with a roll of his eyes.

"You know that Sunday is Easter, right?" Jack began.

Troy nodded while I silently scolded myself for being so stupid as to forget all about the holiday.

"Well, Uncle Matt, Aunt Denise, and Becky are here to stay until next Monday!" Lucille announced happily.

"I thought they were getting here on Friday!" Troy exclaimed.

"They decided to come early," Lucille explained.

"And Troy, put your girlfriend on the ground," Jack commanded.

Troy reluctantly lowered me until my feet were touching the carpet. "Hi," he greeted his relatives. "This is my new girlfriend, Gabriella."

"Do you kiss her?" Becky asked.

"Why do you need to know that?" Troy questioned.

"Because kissing is really gross, and if you kiss her, I don't want to see it, so don't do it while I'm staying at your house." Becky stuck her tongue out, displaying the disgust that was piled inside of her.

"You know what? You have no right to tell me what to do," Troy spoke in an angry tone. "If I want to kiss my girlfriend, I'll kiss her. And if you don't like it, don't watch."

"Troy!" Jack shouted. "Don't talk like that to your cousin."

"Sorry," Troy apologized sarcastically, placing a quick kiss onto my lips.

"Ew!" Becky screeched.

"Come on, Gabriella." Troy grabbed my hand and started to lead me toward the stairs.

"Troy! Come back," Lucille instructed.

Troy and I both turned around.

"Make sure your room's ready for an air mattress to go in there. Your aunt, uncle, and Becky all need to sleep in your room. Uncle Matt and Aunt Denise are gonna use your bed, so you'll need to sleep down here and Gabriella will have to sleep on an air mattress in her mom's room during their stay."

"What? You're joking. Gabriella's sleeping with me," Troy protested.

"Are you married?" Becky wanted to know.

"No," I answered pleasantly.

"But only married people sleep together."

"Of course they do, honey," Lucille agreed. "You must have heard Troy wrong."

"Come on, Gabriella. I know a place we can sleep together without causing a problem," Troy told me.

I eagerly followed Troy out of the room.

**...**

Troy and I stepped into a tree house in Troy's backyard carrying all the things we would need for the night.

"This place is so nice," I remarked, looking around at the wooden walls and old toys Troy had probably played with when he was little.

"Thanks. I haven't been up here in about five years, so I sort of forgot what it was like," Troy told me, spreading out some blankets on the floor.

"Really?"

Troy nodded.

I placed the pillows I had been carrying at the top of the blankets, then sat down beside Troy.

"We're going to be sleeping up here for a week, I guess," Troy announced.

"Well, unless you want to sleep inside and apart from me," I responded.

"No way."

I giggled.

"So, are you sleepy? Do you want to go to bed?"

"Yeah; I'm tired. But when we came out here, it was only eight o' clock. Do you want to go to bed this early?"

"I don't care."

"Alright, well then I guess we can start getting some sleep."

"Okay."

"I'm gonna get my pajamas on quickly," I announced. "Troy, don't look, please." I made sure Troy was hiding his face in his pillow before I grabbed my pajamas, turned my back to him just in case he decided to peek, and quickly changed.

"Are you done?" Troy asked after a minute.

"Yeah, I'm all done," I replied, getting underneath the covers.

After Troy took off his t-shirt, leaving him in his basketball shorts, I snuggled up to him, my cheek resting on his chest, and closed my eyes.

"Hey, are you going to sleep without giving me a kiss?" Troy inquired.

"Oh! I forgot about our good-night kiss," I answered.

"You forgot about kissing me?" Troy asked, pretending to be angry.

I giggled and touched my lips to Troy's. "How's this?"

"Great," Troy murmured through the kiss.

After we were done kissing, Troy switched the alarm clock that was built into his cell phone to 'on' so we would wake up in time for school the next day. He then wrapped his arms around me and touched his lips to my cheek.

"Troy," someone said from outside the tree house.

"Go away, Becky," Troy commanded, recognizing his cousin's voice. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Where's your girlfriend?"

"I don't know," Troy lied as he signaled for me to keep quiet. However, his plan of keeping it a secret that I was with him didn't work as a moment later, Troy and I could hear the door to the tree house swing open.

"I found her," Becky told Troy.

"Whatever, now go away," Troy instructed. "It's not nice to just walk into a place without knocking. We could have been getting changed."

"I don't care."

"Well we do."

"I'm telling your mommy and daddy on you." Becky ran out the open door and hurried down the ladder that led to it.

"Whatever," Troy mumbled sleepily as he rested his head on top of mine.

"Good-night, Troy. I love you," I spoke after a minute of silence.

"Good-night, honey. I love you, too," Troy returned.

Troy and I then both closed our eyes and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.


	9. An Accident

The next day at school, Troy and I walked through the doors, our hands linked together as proof we were a couple.

"Oh my gosh!" Sharpay screeched upon seeing me, her most despised enemy, with her ex-boyfriend. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! You weren't kidding! You really are with this stupid girl!"

"Yes, I'm with her. But she's not stupid. She's way smarter than you, and she's more beautiful," Troy responded, placing a kiss the top of my head.

"She is not more beautiful than me! I'm blonde! Blondes are the best! Don't you know that? She's just a dumb brunette. How can you call her beautiful? And how can you _dare_ to say she's more beautiful than me?" Sharpay burst out. "I can't believe you!"

"She is beautiful," Troy answered.

Sharpay let out an exasperated sigh before turning around and briskly walking away, her high heels loudly clicking against the hard flooring.

"Oh my gosh! Troy Bolton's with Tornado Girl?" a cheerleader screamed, pointing to Troy and I. "Oh my gosh! If he broke up with Sharpay, shouldn't he have found someone that was actually worth something?"

"Yeah, he should have," another cheerleader agreed. "Like one of us." She flipped her long blonde hair. Or rather her long blonde extensions. It was clear to me that her genuine hair only reached her shoulders.

"I know; exactly!"

I leaned against Troy, hiding my face in his arm the best I could. At that moment, I didn't really want to be seen by the rest of the school.

"Aw, baby girl, it's alright," Troy soothed while gently running his fingers through my curls.

"But all the cheerleaders-"

"Oh, who cares about them. Cheer up. You're mine and I don't care if I get a punch in the nose from everyone in the school because of it. Don't listen to what people say."

"Okay." I lifted my head and stared straight into Troy's eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now I have to quick run to the gym to tell my dad that one of the Wildcats won't be able to stay for practice after school. I'll see you in class."

"I'll see you."

After Troy kissed me and walked off to do what he needed to do, William approached me. "Hey, I see you're hooked with Bolton now. Very impressive for a girl of low class like you."

"Yeah...I...guess."

"Well, because of you, Sharpay's hurt. You did this to her. You caused her pain. And now I'm gonna give it right back to you." Before I could back away, William's hand met my cheek, causing my eyes to fill with tears.

"Ow!" I cried out, quickly darting away in the direction of the gym to get Troy. However, I met up with him on my way there. Not caring that I was in public, I burst into tears and clutched him tightly.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Troy questioned, slowly rubbing my back and kissing the top of my head.

"W-William h-hit m-me," I replied.

"Where?"

"O-On m-my c-cheek."

"Oh, he's gonna get it," Troy said, anger heavy in his voice. Where is he now?"

"H-He w-was n-near the d-door, i-in t-the s-spot I-I was s-standing w-when y-you l-left m-me."

"Okay. Well, why don't you come with me and I'll go give him what he deserves. No one messes with my girlfriend and gets away with it. But first, let me see your cheek."

I lifted my head to Troy's face.

"It's red, sweetie. There might be a bruise there in a little while."

"I don't want to go around with a bruise on my face," I whimpered.

"Well, William's going around with a black eye and a bloody nose after I'm through with him." With that, Troy grabbed my hand and led me to where William was.

"Oh, so you got your boyfriend? I'm so scared," William spoke in a falsely dramatic voice.

Without any signs of warning, Troy made a tight fist and punched William first in the nose, and then the eye.

"What was that for, Bolton?"

"For harassing my girlfriend," Troy answered, smacking William again.

"Well, she doesn't deserve you. Sharpay does. I was just giving her what she should get for hooking up with you."

"She does so deserve me. Just because she's not a cheerleader doesn't mean she can't be my girlfriend. In fact, she's a better girlfriend than any of the cheerleaders would ever make."

"She's evil."

"No, she is not. And if you make one more rude comment or hurt her one more time, you're really gonna get it."

"Like you'll really get to me before I get to you. I'm on the football team. I can tackle anyone and everyone I want. And you're no exception."

Troy gave William a harsh glare before walking away from him with me right by his side.

**...**

Once we arrived home that afternoon, Troy and went up to his tree house to do our homework so we wouldn't be disturbed by Becky.

"Do I have a bruise yet?" I asked.

"A little one," Troy replied.

I sighed. "I don't know what to do. I want to cover it, but my make-up's inside and I won't be able to get in without someone noticing my face and questioning me about it."

"I'll go get it for you, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright; thanks." I smiled.

Troy got down from the tree house, returning about five minutes later with my make-up bag.

"Thank you so much," I acknowledged as I took the bag from him and opened it up. When I was finished carefully covering my bruise with some powder, I started on my homework.

"How are you doing with your work?" Troy wondered after a little while. I felt his arms wrap around me from behind and his chin rest on my shoulder.

"Good," I giggled.

"I'm a little stuck on my stuff."

Suddenly, I realized what my boyfriend was doing. "Troy! You're peeking!"

"Am not! I just wanted to give you a hug!"

"Yeah, but you're looking at the answers I'm getting!" I quickly flipped my worksheet over so Troy couldn't look at it anymore.

"Please let me just have a little peek," Troy pleaded.

"No! You need to do your work on your own! I can help you with it if you want me to, but I can't give you the answers. Or let you get the answers by copying off my paper."

Troy went in front of me and touched his nose to mine so that he was staring right into my eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Please. Please. Please. Please. Please."

"No. No. No. No. No."

"Fine; be that way." Troy backed away from me, pretending to be mad.

"Well, I don't think you want to be known as a cheater."

"No, I don't."

"Then you can't cheat. Now come on; let me help you with the worksheet."

"Okay. Though I still say it would be a lot easier if you just let me copy your answers."

"Troy, you're doing it the fair way." I giggled as I heard Troy let out a frustrated sigh.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Something has to be amusing you." Troy smiled playfully as he lifted me off the ground and started spinning me around in circles.

"Stop! Stop!" I screamed as Troy opened the door and began to climb down the ladder leading to the door with me still in his arms.

"Why?"

Suddenly, I slipped out of Troy's grasp and fell to the ground, my head landing hard on the ground. I began to feel as if everything was spinning. After only a few seconds, my eyes closed, leaving me in darkness.


	10. Hurt

I awoke to find myself lying on Troy's bed, a damp cloth on my forehead and Troy and my mom sitting beside me, Troy's hand clutching mine. "What happened?" I moaned, slowly lifting my head.

"You fainted," Troy answered, placing a kiss onto my nose. "But you're alright now."

I sat up and crawled into Troy's lap, wrapping my arms loosely around his neck and placing my cheek on his shoulder. "You dropped me, didn't you?"

"Yes, and I'm very sorry. I should have thought before I tried to carry you down the ladder."

"Are you okay, Gabby?" My mom questioned.

I nodded, then continued speaking to Troy. "It hurts."

"Your head?"

"M-hm."

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?"

"Yes, please," I answered, sounding more like a five-year-old than a high school junior.

Troy touched his lips to the top of my head as he gently stroked my hair.

"You know, Gabriella, I remember when that used to be my job," my mom told me. "But I guess now you have a boyfriend to do it instead." She sighed. "And you don't need me anymore."

"I still need you, Mom. But it's just that Troy has a certain way of doing things that calms me down and makes me feel better."

"Well, should I leave then?"

"Could you please? Troy and I want to talk alone."

My mom exited the room, closing the door behind her.

"Gabby, I'm so sorry I let you fall," Troy apologized, hugging me tightly and kissing my forehead. "I don't think I'm ever gonna forgive myself."

"It was an accident. And I'm alright now," I assured my worried boyfriend while gently playing with the hair that was falling into his handsome eyes.

"But I feel awful." Troy nuzzled my cheek with his nose. "I hate hurting you-even by accident-because I love you."

"I love you, too."

Troy leaned in to softly kiss my lips. I eagerly returned his symbol of affection.

"Gabby, sweetheart, do you want to come downstairs and get some water?" Troy inquired.

I nodded.

Troy placed me on the ground. However as I put weight on my left foot, I winced in pain and sank down onto the carpet.

"What's the matter?" Troy wanted to know.

"My ankle. It hurts."

"Let me see." Troy removed the ballet flat that I was wearing from my small foot and examined the swollen area on it. "Let me get you some ice," he decided after a moment. "And also tell your mom. I'm not sure what you did. I'm guessing you either twisted it or sprained it, but I don't know which." He kissed my forehead as he helped me back onto the bed and disappeared downstairs. When he returned, my mom was right behind him, and he held an ice pack in one of his hands.

"Thanks," I smiled when Troy handed me the ice.

"Gabriella, let look at your foot," my mom said, sitting down at the end of the bed. She had been a nurse before the tornado destroyed our house, so I was positive she would be able to tell what had happened. And sure enough, she could. After examining my injured ankle for a couple minutes, she announced that it was sprained.

Troy wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. "I'll take care of you. Don't worry." He took the ice pack from me and, wrapping it in a washcloth, placed it on my ankle.

"Keep your foot elevated," my mom instructed as she exited the room. "And don't stand on it at all."

"Okay, Mom," I responded.

"You have pretty cute feet," Troy complimented.

"Thanks."

"So, I guess we'll be sleeping in here tonight. I don't want to try to get you up in the tree house. Let me go tell my parents. I'll be back in a minute." Troy quickly touched his lips to my cheek, then left the room. He came back in about five minutes.

"What did they say?"

"They agreed to us sleeping in here since you're hurt. My mom said that my aunt, uncle, and Becky will sleep on air mattresses in the living room."

"Okay. So you're allowed to share a room with me, I guess?"

"My mom said you would either have to stay in here with your mom or with me because you need someone to help you with things. I said I thought you would want to be with me."

"Yeah. I do."

Troy smiled. "Well, dinner's downstairs. Do you want me to bring you something?"

"Sure."

"Oh, and we have some old crutches in the garage if you want to use them."

"That would be great!"

"Okay. Well, I'll get you the crutches and something to eat, then."

**...**

The next morning, my mom decided that I should stay home from school just to give my ankle a little time to heal. I was thrilled with that idea, since I really didn't feel like being taunted by William again. And the best part was that Troy- after begging his parents to do so-was permitted to stay with me.

Troy and I ate a breakfast of pancakes and sausage, then Troy carried me to the bathroom so that I could brush my teeth. Even though I had the crutches, it was easier to be carried around. After I was done with my teeth, he helped me shower. My mom had said she should be the one to help me with that, but I explained to her that I would actually feel more comfortable with Troy helping. Our parents strongly disagreed with that idea at first, but after they talked to us about not doing anything we weren't supposed to, and Troy and I assuring them that Troy was just going to help me get in and out of the tub and hand me the shampoo, conditioner, and soap, they finally agreed. However, they still didn't seem too happy about it.

"You're a beautiful girl," Troy commented as he lifted me over the edge of the tub and, wrapping me in a fluffy towel, carried me into his room.

"Thanks," I acknowledged, blushing slightly.

"I'll give you your privacy to get dressed now. And while you're doing that, I'll ask our moms if we could be ungrounded for just a little while to watch a movie since you're hurt."

"Okay. Thank you." When Troy left, making sure the door was shut behind him, I dressed in a comfortable pair of sweat pants and one of Troy's t-shirts that he had let me wear to sleep in once.

"My mom already left for work, but yours said she thought it would be okay if we just watched one movie," Troy reported when he came back.

"Great!" I smiled.

Troy picked me up and took me downstairs. After putting a DVD in the DVD player, he sat me on his lap and tightly secured his arms around me.

"This is nice," I remarked, snuggling against Troy's chest.

"Yeah," Troy agreed, using his nose to lovingly nuzzle mine. "Some good came out of this injury, I guess."

I giggled. "It sure did."

**...**

Later that day, Troy and I were lying on his bed, our arms securely fastened around each other and my head resting on his firm chest.

"What are you doing?" sounded a voice.

Troy and I lifted our heads to see Becky entering the room, a container of Barbies in her hands. We both groaned.

"We're resting," Troy answered.

"Well, I need someone to play Barbies with me. Troy, can you? I'll give you one and you can give her a makeover. I have a lot of pretty dresses you can pick to put her in, and some of Mommy's old make-up to put on her. I also have a hairbrush and lots of hair accessories."

"No. I'm a guy. Guys don't do makeovers," Troy told her.

"Then can I give you one?"

Troy looked at me. "Gabriella, help."

"I have sparkly hair clips and make-up," Becky said.

"No. No way are you going to use those things on me. I'm your cousin, not a makeover toy."

Becky, giggling her childish giggle, pulled out a glittery pink hair clip from a bag inside the Barbie container. Running over to Troy, she used it to clip his bangs out of his face.

I giggled. "You look so silly, Wildcat."

"Wildcat...I like it," Troy smiled, kissing my forehead before removing the clip from his hair and tossing it somewhere in the room.

"Trooooy!" Becky whined. "You lost my most special, most favorite hair clip!"

"Look for it, then."

"Help me."

"No. I'm taking care of my girlfriend now."

"She can help."

"But she's hurt, remember? Yesterday she fell and sprained her ankle. Now just find your clip and leave us alone."

"No, I can't leave you alone! Because after I find the clip, it'll be time for you to get a haircut!" Becky announced happily. "I'll make you look really nice, because I'm good at cutting Barbies' hair. Look." From her container, she pulled out a Barbie with very short bangs. On one side, its hair was halfway down its back, and on the other, it was shoulder length. "See? I made her prettier."

"No. No way are you touching my hair," Troy responded firmly, getting off the bed. He then picked his cousin up, and put her in the hallway along with her Barbies. After that, he locked her out. "She's so annoying."

"Yeah, she can get sort of irritating," I agreed.

"Tell me about it."

Suddenly, I burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm picturing you playing Barbies," I giggled.

"I would never play Barbies."

I just continued laughing.

"Gabriella, settle down."

"But it's funny."

"Gabriella. Come on. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, calm yourself. Follow my example." Troy did what he had just told me to do.

I tossed a pillow so it landed right on Troy's face, causing me to giggle.

"Gabby!"

I motioned for Troy to come over to me.

"What?" Troy sat down on the edge of his bed and wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."


	11. Getting In Trouble

"Troy, I can't get out of bed," I half-whimpered the next morning when I awoke to find that Troy was no longer under the covers with me.

"I'm here," Troy soothed, walking into the room. By his wet hair, I guessed that he had taken a shower. "And today's our first day of spring break!"

"Oh! I totally forgot about spring break!" I smiled. "Can you help me get up and take a shower?"

"Of course." Troy lifted me into his arms and carried me into the bathroom, where he sat me on the toilet so I could get myself undressed. He then proceeded to pick me up and cuddle me a little.

"Wildcat, what are you doing?"

"You're beautiful," Troy responded softly, placing a gentle and not in the least bit lustful kiss onto my soft lips before ever so carefully placing me on the floor of the shower.

"Troy, I changed my mind. I want a bath instead since I don't have to rush around to get to school."

Troy picked me up and started filling the tub. "You're so picky," he commented playfully.

"Well, I'm hurt, and I would rather take a bath than a shower because I can't stand up without crutches and yesterday it was irritating to sit down in the shower," I explained, snuggling against my boyfriend's firm chest.

Troy walked over to the bathroom closet, pulled a towel from it, and wrapped me in it.

"What was that for?" I questioned.

"I thought you would want to be covered since we have to wait a few minutes for the tub to fill up," Troy replied.

"Well, as long as you're the only one that's seeing me, I'm fine, but thanks for being so thoughtful. You don't know how sweet I thought that was. Most guys wouldn't do that." I smiled a shy smile.

"You're most welcome. I did it because I love you and I want you to feel comfortable."

"You're the sweetest guy I've ever met."

"Thanks," Troy smiled as he turned off the water and, letting the towel slide off my body, placed me in the bathtub.

With Troy handing me what I needed, I washed up. When I was finished, I decided to relax for a little while and have a chat with Troy. After all, we didn't get alone time too much. It seemed as if our parents or Becky were always hovering around.

"So, do you like East High so far?" Troy wanted to know as he took a seat atop the bathroom counter.

I shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I mean, lots of the kids are nasty, but the teachers seem nice-well, except for Ms. Darbus of course." I giggled. Ms. Darbus was the drama-obsessed homeroom teacher that Troy and I were both, unfortunately, stuck with.

"Oh, believe me. Nobody likes her," Troy said, rolling his eyes.

I, suddenly getting an idea, splashed Troy with some of the water I was surrounded by.

"What was that for?" Troy questioned. He sounded annoyed, but I could tell he was trying to contain laughter by the smile on his lips that he was trying so hard to destroy.

"I did it because I love you," I answered, giggling.

Troy walked over to me and lifted me into his arms, not caring that I was dripping wet.

I shivered at the cold air that hit my soaking skin. "Troy, I'm freezing!"

"And you're beautiful," Troy told me, kissing my forehead as he pulled me a little away from him and looked me over. "_Very_ beautiful. I can't even describe how beautiful you are."

A deep crimson color washed over my face.

_Knock, knock._

"Who is it?" Troy called.

"It's me." I recognized my mother's voice. "What are you two doing in there? It's been a while. Your parents, uncle, aunt, cousin, and I are all waiting to get showers. So please hurry up, and I really hope you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be doing."

"We're not, Mom!" I quickly assured.

Troy drained the water in the tub, helped me dry myself off, then wrapped me in my towel and kissed my forehead before carrying me out the door. Once out there, I hid my face in Troy's chest, thoroughly embarrassed by the fact that my mom and both of Troy's parents were standing out in the hall.

"Gabriella, if you say you weren't doing anything inappropriate, than what took so long?" my mom demanded.

"I decided to take a bath," I started. "And after I washed up, I decided to relax in the tub and talk to Troy."

"And Troy, why are you all wet?" Lucille questioned.

"Gabby splashed me," Troy replied. "And then I lifted her up and was holding her while she was dripping wet."

"Troy! You know you're not supposed to be fingering her up or touching her more than you need to," Jack spoke in a stern voice. "I don't know if you'll be allowed to help her shower anymore if you can't do that."

"Well, if I can't help her, then who will?"

"I would," my mom answered.

"Please, please, please," I begged, on the verge of tears. "Please, Mom. Let Troy keep helping me. I refuse to let you help me unless I can go in the shower in my bathing suit."

"Why?"

"Because I would be too embarrassed." I looked up at Troy and put on my sweetest face. "Wildcat, I want to get dressed. Please take me to your room."

"Alright," Troy acknowledged, placing a kiss onto my nose. He immediately took me into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

I burst into tears. "T-Troy, I-I don't t-trust a-anyone but y-you t-to h-help me s-shower."

"I'll do everything I can to get our parents to say I still can," Troy assured, kissing my forehead and handing me one of his t-shirts and a pair of his shorts. "Here; wear these. I know how much you like my clothes."

I dressed in the things Troy gave to me, then, after wiping the tears from my eyes, allowed him to pick me up and carry me out of his room.

"Can I please still help Gabriella?" Troy asked. "She said she doesn't trust anyone but me to do that."

"Well, I don't know. I just noticed you made a huge mess in the bathroom," Lucille began. "The floor's so slippery, it might as well be a water slide. If you can't be careful not to drench everything, I might say 'no.'"

"Sorry," Troy mumbled.

"Sorry," I echoed.

"Please clean that all up, Troy," Jack said.

"Okay. I will," Troy acknowledged.

"And Gabriella, I don't know why you don't want me to help you. I'm your mother! And I was a nurse. You don't think I helped people get in the shower before? And you're that ashamed to have me see you undressed?"

"Mom, it would be incredibly embarrassing. So embarrassing that I don't even know if I would speak to you again if you did that to me. It would be like torture. I haven't even let you see my in my underwear since I was five years old. I only feel comfortable with the person I trust most, which is Troy."

"You trust Troy more than you trust me?" my mom sounded raged.

I nodded.

"I can't believe it! I've lived with you for sixteen years and you don't trust me as much as you trust someone you've known for less than six months?"

"Troy's a wonderful guy. He does everything he can to make me feel comfortable. He doesn't look at me while he hands me what I need, and he keeps me covered as much as possible. Please, Mom. Please let him keep doing it."

"Fine. But if something like this happens again, that's it. This is the second time I've had this discussion with you about being careful, and I can't say I enjoy it too much."

"Same with me, Troy," Lucille agreed. "Now go put Gabriella down so you can clean the bathroom."

**...**

**I know this chapter probably seemed pointless, but since later in the story, as you probably already know, Troy and Gabriella do 'it,' and their parents get angry, so I just want to show how strict they are about that now.**


	12. Easter

**WARNING: A brief section near the end of this chapter could probably be considered low M-rated.**

**...**

Easter Day came. By this time, my ankle had gotten a little better, but still wasn't completely healed. Troy was still being incredibly kind and patient toward me and rarely left my side, which I deeply appreciated.

"I have some more relatives coming over today for Easter dinner," Troy told me as he handed me a bowl of cereal.

"Are they like Becky?" I questioned.

"No, not at all. She's the only little Bolton brat, as I like to call her."

I giggled. "Well, that's certainly a description that fits her."

"Yeah," Troy agreed, smiling. "So anyway, about Easter dinner, my mom wants us to dress up. Do you have any dressy clothes you could wear?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Great! I've never seen you all dressed up before. I can't wait to see how beautiful you look."

"I think I look ridiculous dressed up," I confessed, looking down into my bowl and using my spoon to play with its contents. "That's why I never go to formal things unless I have to."

"Aw, I doubt you'll look ridiculous. You never do. You're always beautiful."

My cheeks tinted a bit. "You're embarrassing me, Wildcat."

"I'm sorry," Troy apologized, kissing my forehead. "But it's the truth; even when you wake up in the morning, you're still the most gorgeous girl I've ever laid eyes on."

I smiled. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Troy touched his lips to my cheek.

"I love you," I murmured in a soft tone.

"Love you, too," Troy returned, nuzzling one of my shoulders and my neck.

I giggled. "That tickles, Wildcat. But it feels good."

Troy smiled as he kissed my lips. "You're sweet."

**...**

Troy picked me up and carried me downstairs. I was wearing a sleeveless black and white dress which grazed my knees, white sandals, and a black beaded bracelet. My hair was left down in its natural curls, and a little bit of make-up was dusted on my face.

"It looks like we're late," Troy commented, surveying the living room. "Everyone's already here."

"Well, you know why we're late," I whispered in his ear. This morning, Troy had come into the tub with me while I was taking my bath, and although we didn't do anything, we couldn't help but play around and touch one another's bodies a little, Troy especially.

"Troy, is this your girlfriend?" a tall, blonde woman questioned.

"Yes, it is," Troy replied proudly. "Her name is Gabriella. And Gabriella, this is my Aunt Kate."

"Hi, Gabriella," Kate greeted with a smile as she extended her hand for me to shake.

"Hi," I said, shaking her hand.

"Troy, why are you holding her?"

"She sprained her ankle so I have to carry her around the house," Troy explained. "She does have some crutches, but she prefers to be held." He kissed my head, which was comfortably nestled against his chest.

"She seems like a nice girl," Kate remarked. "Much nicer than that blonde one you were with last year."

"Oh, believe me. She's _way _nicer than Sharpay."

"Hi, Troy!" someone exclaimed.

"Hi," Troy returned, looking at a little girl who appeared to be about six years old. He then turned to me. "Gabby, this is my little cousin Amber." Then, in a whisper, he added, "And she's nothing like Becky, so don't worry."

I giggled. "Hi, Amber," I greeted.

"Hi. Who are you?" Amber asked.

"I'm Gabriella, Troy's girlfriend."

"I like your hair. It's pretty."

"Thank you."

"It's time to eat!" I heard Lucille shout over all the ruckus of people taking and laughing.

"Let's go," Troy said, taking me over to the table and placing me in the chair beside his. He then linked his fingers with mine and gave me a loving smile before touching his lips to my forehead.

"Yucky!" Becky exclaimed. "Get a room!"

Troy and I exchanged amused glances. Where in the world had she picked that phrase up from? It usually wasn't something you heard little kids say.

"We don't have to," Troy responded, leaning in to kiss me on the lips.

"Mmmm," I softly moaned as Troy gently bit my bottom lip and began sliding his arms, which were resting on my waist, low to a nearly inappropriate level. Thankfully, no one could see that for the table was obscuring our lower halves.

"Troy! Cut it out!" Jack demanded.

Troy and I quickly broke apart, only to realize that everyone was staring at us, Becky sticking her tongue out in pure disgust. "Ew. That was gross. Never kiss again! It makes me wanna throw up!"

"I'm sorry," came Troy's sarcastic apology.

I stared hungrily at Troy's lips once more before averting my eyes, instead focusing on the full plate in front of me. However, I couldn't seem to get over my desire to be touched and kissed by my boyfriend. After the sexual tension that had passed between us this morning in the tub, I couldn't help but desire more.

**...**

When the meal was completed, everyone decided to go to the park to hang out for a little while. That is, everyone except Troy and I. At first our parents tried to make us come, but after begging them to allow us to remain at Troy's house, they let us.

"Let's go up to my room," Troy suggested, taking me up the stairs and through the doorway of his bedroom. Shutting and locking the door behind him, he sat down on the bed with me and began hungrily kissing my lips.

I moaned. "Mmmm, Troy. More please, more."

Troy deepened the kiss and began unzipping my dress.

"Are we really gonna..." I trailed off.

"Maybe. We can just play around with each other again, then see what happens. Right now, I really want to see you because of how beautiful you are."

I smiled and nodded in understanding.

Once Troy and I had gotten rid of all our clothes, we laid down on the bed, me face down on top of Troy.

Troy ran his hands all over my exposed skin, eventually lightly pushing me off of him so that he could finger my breasts and kiss my nipples. "Oh, sweetheart, you're so beautiful. I don't know how you got the most beautiful body in the world, but you did. Sharpay wasn't nearly this beautiful when I saw her."

"Troy," I began abruptly, pushing him away and quickly getting under the covers to hide myself.

"What's the matter?" Troy wondered.

"We're being intimate with one another and you have your ex-girlfriend on your mind? Oh, Troy, I don't know how you could." Tears started trickling down my cheeks.

"I said she wasn't nearly as beautiful as you," Troy defended.

"B-But still. Y-You w-were t-thinking of h-her. A-Are you s-sure you'd n-not rather g-go h-have sex w-with h-her rather t-than m-me?"

"No! Of course I wouldn't!"

I, keeping the blanket wrapped around me, got out of bed and gathered up all my clothes before turning my back to Troy so I could dress again, not caring that my injured foot throbbed when I put pressure on it. When I turned around, I saw that Troy was also fully clothed.

"I'm sorry," Troy apologized.

"Well, you should be," I said. "Now maybe you should just go with Sharpay."

"Maybe I will," Troy spat, grabbing his cell phone. "If you can't understand and trust me, then I think we should break up. We don't have any business being in a relationship that has no trust or understanding."

"No!" I whimpered. "I-I d-don't want to break up! T-Troy...w-we c-could j-just t-talk it o-out!" I cried, hot tears dripping down my face.

"It's too late for that. I regret going this far with you, and I regret even looking at your body, which, by the way, isn't even beautiful. It's hideous. I was just lying to make you feel good."

I sobbed even harder at Troy's remark.

"Get a life, cry baby," Troy growled. "I'm done with you." With that, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

I changed into a pair of my sweat pants and a tank top and tied my hair up into a messy bun before climbing under the covers of Troy's bed, misery overtaking me as I inhaled his scent, which was caught on the blankets. I didn't know what I had done to deserve a break up, and I wasn't sure what had made Troy suddenly turn on me. All I knew is that I would be in deep depression for a long time.

**...**

**Hey, I just wanted to ask you all to check out my new story **_**Hiding in the Shadows.**_** I promise it's some of my best work! And I'm now accepting anonymous reviews, so if you don't have an account, you can review both this and my new story. Just no flames, please!**


	13. Misery

"Gabriella, what's wrong?" my mom questioned as she walked through the open doorway to Troy's room, where I was still lying in his bed sobbing.

"T-Troy and I-I...w-we...b-broke...up," I cried.

"You broke up?" my mom repeated in disbelief. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"I-I'm gonna s-stay h-here f-for t-the r-rest of m-my l-life, which w-will h-hopefully b-be soon."

"Don't be so heartbroken. You'll get back together eventually." My mom sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug. "Just try to go on with your life."

I pushed my mother away from me. "I-I will n-not g-go on! I-I lost e-everyone I-I c-care a-about e-except you. D-Dad d-died in t-that h-horrible t-tornado, and T-Troy just w-went and d-dumped me! O-Oh, c-could t-things g-get any w-worse?"

"Okay, just stay here and cry it all out. I'll be downstairs if you want me for anything." I saw, through my tear-blurred eyes, my mom exit the room.

"T-Troy!" I wailed loudly. "O-Oh, T-Troy! I-I love you m-more t-than I-I could e-ever t-tell! O-Oh, w-why d-did y-you l-leave me? T-Troy! I-I want y-you! I-I love you! I-I m-miss y-you!"

"Gabriella, shut up. I'm in a relationship now and it's not with you," Troy spoke from the hall, his voice sounding cold as ice. "There's nothing you can do to get me back."

I sobbed harder in response to the heart shattering words that had just met my ears.

**...**

"Gabriella, are you alright?" my mom asked the next morning when I failed to get up for school.

"I-I feel sick. I-I j-just d-don't w-want t-to g-go to school t-today." No, I hadn't stopped crying since the previous day; even to sleep. And to tell the truth, I was downright sick of it, as it was giving me a throbbing headache and droopy eyelids.

"Is it because of Troy?"

"I-I think s-so."

"You seem pretty hysterical still. Even though I have a feeling you're not as sick as you say, I still think staying home from school is a good idea. It'll give you a day to calm yourself a bit."

"I-I don't t-think I-I'll e-ever c-calm m-myself."

"Oh, you will. Don't worry. Do you want to talk about anything with me? I'd be more that happy to listen if you do."

"N-No."

"Are you sure? I mean, sometimes talking things out makes them better."

"J-Just g-go. I-I don't w-want t-to t-talk t-to a-anyone n-now." I buried my face in a fluffy pillow, beginning to sob harder.

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"NO! J-J-Just g-go!" I fairly screamed.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I upset you, Gabby." My mom kissed my head and briefly embraced me before leaving me in peace to let out all my misery.

**...**

Late that afternoon, my mom came into Troy's room. "Gabby, are you _still_ crying?"

I nodded against the pillow that was concealing my face.

"You know, you need to stop sometime. You can't go on like this forever. Try to think of Troy as someone that's not even important."

I didn't reply. I _couldn't _reply. I was crying way too hard because of the words in the last sentence my mom had used. In fact, I didn't want to even be around any human being for any longer. Jumping out of bed, I slipped my feet into a pair of flip-flops, then, not caring that I looked a wreck, hurried down the set out stairs and out the front door.

_I must get away from here. I must get away from here,_ I repeated over and over again in my head as I briskly walked down the sidewalk, not taking notice of where I was going. Finally, though, tears blurred my vision too much and I needed to sit down, so I took a seat on the curb.

"Hey, idiot! Get off my property!" I heard a voice yell. Turning around, I realized that it was Sharpay. Oh, why did I have to choose her house out of all the houses around to sit in front of?

"Yeah, nerd! Go home and cry! Don't bawl your ugly eyes out in public!" Troy, who I just realized was standing beside Sharpay, shouted with a laugh.

"Y-You h-hurt m-me," I choked out, wiping my face with my hands.

"And does it look like I care?" came Troy's sharp response. "I'm better off with Sharpay than you. In fact, I just finished what you and I started at the time we broke up, and it was amazing. Sharpay's body is so much more hot than yours because _she_ actually has a chest that doesn't look like a toddler's. You, I don't even know why you wear a bra, because you sure don't look like a woman."

That stung me badly. Sure, I could tell from the tight clothes Sharpay wore that she definitely wore a decently larger bra size than me, but I still didn't understand why Troy would say something like that. Why did it even matter if I had small breasts? _Maybe Sharpay's are just oversized, _I told myself.

"And you're inexperienced. I was doing all the work while you just laid there and relished it all," Troy continued. "You're a horrible sex partner."

That last line earned a taunting laugh from Sharpay.

"Oh, also, Sharpay wears sexy underwear. She actually has matching sets, first of all, and secondly, most of them are lacy and half see-through. You wear ugly underwear. Probably because your butt is so freaking small, you have to shop for it in the kids' section, and your breasts are so extremely non-existent that you can't fit into any bra sizes with sexy designs. Grow up, baby."

I stood up and ran all the way back to Troy's house. I couldn't believe it. I refused to think of it as true. I had trusted Troy enough to reveal my body to him. But now that we broke up, he was just using it to tease me. If I could turn back time, I would've kept covered around him. And I always will from this moment forward because I know he'll just torment me if he sees me even semi-naked again.

"Gabriella, where did you go? What's the matter?" my mom asked, concerned as I walked through the door. Obviously, she had noticed that my tears had begun to fall faster and I looked as if I was deeply hurt.

"N-N-Nothing," I choked out as I dashed upstairs and into Troy's room where I slammed the door shut and threw myself onto his bed, snuggling under the covers which still strongly carried his enticing scent.

"Honey, you have to talk to me," I heard my mom say a few moments later after detecting the sound of the door opening. "If you keep all this misery bottled up inside you, you'll never get over this. Now what happened?"

"I-I'm n-not t-telling you!" I screamed.

"Gabby, as your legal guardian, the one responsible for you until the day you turn eighteen, I demand for you to tell me what's going on. I need to know so that I can help you."

"I-I-I won't s-say!" I decided firmly.

"Gabriella, I _need _to know."

"S-Sharpay a-and T-Troy...t-they're t-together again!" That wasn't a total lie. I was horribly disappointed that they were hooked with one another again, but that just wasn't the main reason I was crying.

"Don't worry. Maybe you and Troy just aren't meant to be after all."

"Y-Yes w-we a-are! W-We w-were i-in l-love!"

"Oh, honey, I'm afraid not. You're only a couple of silly high school students. You couldn't have possibly felt adult feelings toward one another."

"Y-You d-don't understand!"

"Gabriella, you need to get over him. He wasn't anything special. Any guy who's like that isn't worth it. Like I told you earlier, think of him as someone of little importance."

"B-But he l-loved me!" I protested.

"If he really loved you, he wouldn't have broken up with you. Why did you even break up, anyway?"

"H-He s-started bringing u-up S-Sharpay w-when w-we w-were k-kissing," I made up. I surely was _not_ going to reveal to my mom that we were about to make love to each other.

"See? If he really cared, he wouldn't break up with you over something that silly."

"M-Mom! Y-You d-don't get i-it!"

"Gabriella, this topic is ending. Troy's a jerk, you two were never really in love, and you need to get over him." With those words, my mom walked out of the room.

_But we really did love one another, _I said to myself with a sigh.

"Oh, and Gabby, it's dinnertime. I want you to eat something," my mom called from the hallway.

I didn't show any signs that I had heard those words. I didn't feel well enough to eat, as my stomach was in pain due to the stress from my break-up. All I wished to do was stay under the covers, sob, sleep, and, hopefully, die. If I wasn't alive anymore, then I couldn't feel the pain. If I wasn't living, it would be impossible to feel the hurt that pierced my heart. If I was dead, everything would be perfect.


	14. Moving On

The next day, my mom told me that I absolutely _had_ to go to school, whether I was over my break-up or not. I groaned when I heard that news, as school was my least favorite place, and now I would hate it even more because I would have to be around Troy and Sharpay-and be reminded that they were a couple. Seeing Troy at his house pained me greatly, but having to view him with his tongue down Sharpay's throat in school was way worse.

"I guess I'm going now," I sighed as I picked up my book bag and headed toward the door.

"Alright," my mom said. "Bye. Have fun!"

_Like that would ever happen,_ I thought as I rolled my chocolate irises and walked outside.

Once I reached the bus stop, a shocking sight met my eyes. Troy was there with Sharpay. I couldn't believe it! They both had cars, so why weren't they using them? _Probably just so they can torment me._

"Can I ever get away from you?" Troy asked abruptly.

I didn't reply.

"You're a loser," Sharpay teased. "You can't even keep a boyfriend. Maybe because you're a baby about everything. Even your clothes look like a little girls'." She tugged at the sleeve of my purple t-shirt.

I backed away and turned my face, not wanting Troy and Sharpay to see me cry.

"What's the matter, little girl?" Sharpay questioned in a teasing tone. "Don't wanna look at us? Well, I hardly blame you. You should be ashamed to show your face to Troy and I, since we have a _much_ better reputation than you do. Look, you're so pathetic! You're limping like a hurt rabbit."

"I sprained my ankle," I defended myself, forcing my voice to sound strong. "And it's still healing a bit."

"You're lying," Sharpay accused.

"She really did hurt her ankle," Troy broke in, causing my lips to form a smile. However, the words that followed that were much harsher than the ones he had just spoken. "And guess what? I was the cause of it! Isn't that awesome?"

Sharpay cackled. "That's evil, Troy! Purely evil! And I love it!"

I wheeled around and briskly walked back home, not able to take Troy and Sharpay's behavior anymore. I would just ask my mom to drive me to school if I was being forced to go. It was better than riding the bus with the two people I couldn't bear to be around.

"Gabby, why are you back here?" my mom wondered as she noticed me walking through the front door, tears slowly trickling down my cheeks.

"I-I can't g-go o-on the b-bus. T-Troy a-and Sharpay..."

"Who cares about them?"

"B-But t-they're b-being s-so m-mean to m-me. C-Can y-you drive m-me t-to school?"

"Honey, I would, but I don't have a car, and the Boltons took both their cars to work a little bit ago. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to use the bus."

"B-But..."

"Gabriella, go to the bus stop before you're late," my mom ordered, pointing to the door. "You already missed two days of school; one for your ankle injury and one to recover from your break-up. You're not missing another. I really don't want you to get too far behind the others."

"Mom, p-please-"

"I can't! Now get to the bus stop!"

With tears still streaming down my face, I dashed out the door, allowing it to slam behind me, then hurried to the bus stop as fast as my injured foot would allow me to go. Luckily, the bus was pulling up as I arrived, so I didn't need to listen to Troy and Sharpay rant about how I was pathetic. When I took a seat in the yellow vehicle, I chose one in the very back, where I would have a rare chance of being taunted, as all the shy, unwanted students sat in that area.

"Hi, Gabby," I heard a familiar voice greet.

I turned in the direction of the sound that had met my ears and saw Taylor on the seat across from mine. "Hey."

Taylor motioned for me to sit with her, so before the bus started up again, I quickly changed seats. "So, I heard you broke up with Troy," she began in a sympathetic tone.

I nodded meekly. "I miss him," I confessed in a whisper.

"Well," Taylor said quietly, "Lucas-that guy across the aisle, second seat from the back-I've heard him talking about how he thinks you're gorgeous. And the best part is that he's one of us rather than some selfish jock. Maybe you could try getting to know him."

My cheeks turned a crimson red as Lucas turned to look at Taylor and I. "Did you tell her that I..." he started.

"Yes, I did," Taylor confirmed.

Lucas' face turned red. "Well, um...uh...Gabriella, what do you think of me?"

"You're...you're kinda cute," I decided, surveying the teenager's emerald eyes and medium blonde hair.

"Do you...uh...wanna eat lunch with me today, then?"

"Sure," I smiled.

"Awesome," Lucas responded. "I-I can't wait to get to know you."

"Yeah, I can't wait to get to know you, too."

"See, Gabby? Wasn't that easy?" Taylor squealed. "You have a boyfriend! Now you can go to junior prom and all the other school dances, _and_ participate in the best couple of the school year award! Won't that be fun?"

"It sure would, but he's not officially my boyfriend, yet. Didn't you hear what we said? We're going to get to know one another during lunch today. We'll see how things go, then."

"I'm sure you're gonna be a perfect match." Taylor sighed. "I wish I had a boyfriend."

"Do you have any boys in mind?"

"Chad Danforth," Taylor smiled, her cheeks tinting just a little. "He's so cute. And funny. I wish he would ask me out, but as he's friends with Troy Bolton, so I'm sure he thinks the same thing about us unpopular people that Troy thinks about us. Anyway, he's probably a jerk."

"You don't know that. He could be nice."

"He's Troy's _best friend._"

"Oh, well, then, I would stay away from him."

"That's probably the wisest idea, but I just can't stop thinking about him. His eyes are just so dreamy. And I love his hair." She giggled.

Just then, the bus pulled into the filling parking lot of East High and stopped in front of the door. As I climbed out of it, Lucas shyly grabbed my hand. "C-Could I walk you to your homeroom?" he requested sweetly.

A blush crept onto my face as I nodded. "Absolutely; I would love the company."

"Alright, well...after we go to our lockers you can uh...show me where it is."

"Sounds great," I said.

"Great," Lucas echoed, his voice sounding insecure as he withdrew his hand from mine and began nervously running his fingers through his hair.

A smile lit up my face as I parted from the timid guy that could become my boyfriend temporarily. Maybe this break-up with Troy wasn't going to be as bad as I thought.


	15. Does He Still Like Me?

That day after school, I invited Lucas over to Troy's house to do homework with me. He would most likely be a better study partner than Troy, as it was probable he wouldn't beg me to give him all the answers.

"What is _he_ doing in _my_ house?" Troy demanded as soon as he saw Lucas step foot inside. "I declare my property nerd-free. And I'm already bending my rules since _you_ have to live here."

"We're gonna do homework," I replied.

"Well, I'm going to Sharpay's. I need to get away from you people." With an eye roll, Troy marched out the front door, allowing it to slam behind him.

"Oh, Gabriella, who's this?" my mom questioned as she came into the room.

"This is Lucas; he's my new boyfriend. We got together today at lunchtime." I smiled.

"Oh. Hello, Lucas." My mother extended one of her hands. "I'm Maria, Gabriella's mom. It's nice to meet you."

Lucas shook my mom's hand. "It's nice to meet you, too." He then turned to me. "Come on, Gabriella. Let's go find somewhere we can do our homework. Preferably a room with a computer, since I have to look up some things for a research paper I'm doing on copper."

"I have a laptop. It's up in my room-well, actually Troy's room-but I sleep in it, so I just sort of think of it as mine. Though I do wish there weren't all those pictures of him in there."

"Okay. Let's go up there, then," Lucas said as he began heading for the stairs. "I can ignore all the pictures."

I led my new boyfriend to Troy's room, where we put our book bags down and sorted through them until we found our geometry homework for the day.

"So, what's your favorite thing in geometry?" Lucas asked. "I like finding the volume of cylinders."

I took a moment to think. "I think the thing I like best is the Pythagorean Theorem. I think it's interesting how it works, and it's fun to use." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Though I do think cylinders are nice, also."

"What's your favorite school subject overall?"

"Hm...let's see...geometry." I giggled. "I've always loved all types of math since I was a little girl. I remember in fifth grade, I was obsessed with finding the area of rectangles. I don't know why, but I used to get really excited whenever that would be one of the problems I needed to do for the day."

"You know, you're pretty cool. You're the first girl I've met that understands how enjoyable school can be. And as a bonus, you know what it's like to deal with Troy Bolton and all the other popular people."

I sighed. "Yes, unfortunately I know."

"I feel sorry that you have to live with him. I would go crazy if I had to stay with any of the school bullies. Maybe you could come to my house for a week or something to take time off of him. We have a guest room and my parents love having company over, even if it's my company."

"I'll think about it and discuss it with my mom," I said.

"Hey, nerds, get out of my room," Troy ordered as he hurried through the doorway with Sharpay on his heels. "Sharpay locked herself out of her house, so we need somewhere to do our thing."

"Yeah," Sharpay agreed. "Troy and I haven't had sex in ages, so get out and let us do it. But do not tell his parents."

"Excuse me?" Lucille spoke as she appeared from around the corner. "Troy Bolton, did I just hear Sharpay say you two are going to have sex? No way. Sharpay, leave immediately. Troy, you're grounded. How long have you been doing that with her?"

"Ever since our first night together the first time we got together-before our break-up." Troy hung his head in shame as his cheeks burned.

"I can't believe it. Go downstairs, sit down on the sofa, and think about what you've done. No wonder you and Gabriella broke up. You have no judgment, unlike her." She then noticed Lucas sitting beside me. "Hi, who are you?"

"I'm Lucas Acres," Lucas answered. "Gabriella's new boyfriend."

"Hi, I'm Lucille," Lucille greeted.

"I'm Troy. And you'd better not do anything to Gabriella," Troy said through gritted teeth.

My mouth widened in astonishment. "Troy, do you...do you still care about me?"

"No," Troy replied with clear rage. "And why would I care about a nerd like you? You're pointless."

"Troy Alexander Bolton. Downstairs. Now." Lucille pointed to the staircase, a look of anger overtaking her face. She then turned toward Lucas and I. "I'm sorry for his behavior."

"It's okay." I managed to sound polite despite the deep pain that was stinging my heart.

Lucille gave Lucas and I a small smile and an understanding nod before disappearing downstairs, probably, I guessed, to talk to Troy more about what he'd done.

**...**

That evening at dinner, Troy and I were both silent. We refused to meet one another's eyes, and even avoided asking each other to pass something specific on the table. Clearly, we were at war.

"You kicked me, nerd!" Troy snarled suddenly.

I gaped at my angry ex-boyfriend. "What do you mean? I didn't kick anyone!"

Troy looked under the table. "Oh," he mumbled, "It was the leg of the table. But still, I'm surprised you didn't kick me. It sounds like something you would do."

I rose from the table and stormed off to Troy's room, slamming the door behind me. Flinging myself onto his bed, I buried my face in a pillow and sobbed. Toy could have at least been kind to me. I know I'm not his favorite person right now, but to me, that wasn't an accepted excuse for his behavior. I couldn't believe that he was blind to the fact I was still in love with him. And no, I'm not mad. Even though I'm with Lucas now, Troy will always have a special place in my heart, no matter how much of an idiot he is.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry," I heard a voice say. I lifted my head to see Troy approaching me.

"R-Really?" A smile emerged through my tears.

"Yes, really," Troy acknowledged, taking a seat beside me and wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did. Now, I don't want to be your boyfriend again, but do you think we could just try being friends?"

My smile faded. "I-I don't want y-you n-near me a-at a-all."

Troy withdrew his arm from me. "Why?"

"B-Because y-you don't l-love m-me."

"But I'm in a relationship now. We tried being together once, but it didn't work out. And to tell you the truth, I really didn't like that you weren't good at making love. Like I told you before, I was doing all the work."

My tears ceased, instead being replaced by anger. "So, all you care about it whether or not a girl's good at making love? Troy, I haven't had my first time yet! And why did you get back together with Sharpay if you abandon relationships that fail?"

"I never said I abandon relationships that fail!"

"But that's what you meant. You said you wouldn't try being together with me because it didn't work out last time. But yet, you were together with Sharpay, then you broke up, and now you're together again! You just have no respect for me! And anyway, I'm in a perfectly happy relationship."

"You don't look happy."

I sighed. "Well, I guess I can't hide the fact that I...I miss you," I said, my voice growing softer as I shifted my gaze to the carpet beneath me.

"So you want to get back together?"

"I would if you were nicer, but you're a jerk. I won't let myself reconnect with you. Because the only thing that would happen would be that you would break my heart again."

"Yeah, I probably would. And I would most likely cheat on you."

I stared at Troy in shock. "Get. Out."

"But...I'm just saying the truth!"

"Out," I repeated, pointing to the door. "I don't like how you're treating me."

"Fine. But I'm going to Sharpay's, and you know what we're going to do there," Troy snapped as he exited his room.

I took a tissue and dabbed the tears off my face, then took the book I was currently reading and opened it to the page where I had last left off. While Troy did something to relax, so would I.

"Gabby? What was all the yelling up here about?" my mom questioned while walking through the open doorway.

"Troy's being a jerk," I answered. "And I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh. Well, I'll be downstairs if you decide you do want to discuss it with someone, alright?"

I nodded in understanding. Once my mom had left, I laid my book aside and laid down on Troy's bed face down, my chin propped up on a pillow. Letting out a deep sigh, I considered all the events of the day and struggled to make a decision regarding what to do about Troy. I didn't think I should give him another chance. I wanted to make him beg for me to come back to him. And obviously, he wasn't prepared to do that. I didn't have any clue as to when he would be, but something told me that it wouldn't be for a very long time.


	16. Should We Get Together Again?

That evening, Troy walked into his room, where I was just getting under the covers of his bed. The look on his face was one of hurt, disappointment, and dejectedness.

"What are _you_ doing in here?" I asked coldly.

"Sharpay...she...she cheated on me. I found out because when we were doing 'it', she said William's name. I questioned her about it, and she said it was because she had had sex with him the other day. I can't believe it! Oh, why did I have to get back together with her?"

"Troy, I'm happy with her," I remarked firmly.

Troy gave me a shocked look. "What? Why?"

"Because she gave you a taste of your own medicine. Now you know how I felt when you mentioned her while we were being intimate with one another."

"But-"

"There are no 'buts.'" I got out of bed and stood in front of Troy, glaring at him squarely in the eyes. "You were being a jerk then, and now that Sharpay's acting the same way, you know exactly what it felt like to have someone else's name mentioned at a time as special as the middle of a love making session." I folded my arms across my chest.

"Did you just call me a jerk?" Troy sounded incredulous.

"Yes, I did. And that's the truth. You were a jerk then, and you still are one now."

"But Gabby, the reason I came in here was to give you a genuine apology and ask you if you wanted to be my girlfriend again. Please just hear what I have to say! Please, Gabby! I'm begging you!" Troy pleaded, gazing into my chocolate eyes.

"No. I will not be your girlfriend again," I responded defiantly. "Not until you've proved you changed. And besides, I'm already in a relationship."

"Yeah, with a nerd," Troy scoffed, rolling his ocean eyes in his infamous jerk-like manner.

"Troy, I actually like him! So please, stop insulting him! See, this is why I'm not getting back together with you. You're stupid."

Troy gasped. "Did you just call me stupid? Because nobody calls the popular jock, aka, Troy Bolton, stupid."

"What's with the attitude? Troy, you've got to come around before I get back together with you. No wait-make that before I even _consider_ getting back together with you! You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going to take you back just like that!"

"No, I think _you're_ the one that's out of your mind. Since when did you become all tough like this? You're a nerd! You're supposed to be weak! Get with things!"

"Well, maybe I'm not like other nerds. Did you ever think of that? Now get out of my room so I can get some nice, peaceful rest!" I thrust one of my pointer fingers toward the open doorway.

"Fine," Troy decided after a moment of deliberation. "I'll leave if you want me to. But just keep thinking about everything I said to you."

Once Troy was out of the room, I closed the door, then laid down in his bed. However, I found myself to not be tired one bit. I tried to read, but that didn't work. I tried to work on writing my essay, but that wasn't successful, either. Finally, I gave up, and just laid down in bed for a long time until sleep overtook me. However, when I slept, it was in a fitful way rather than a restful one.

**...**

"Thinking about me?" Troy murmured gently as he caught me staring into space with a smile fixed upon my lips the next morning at breakfast.

I snapped out of my fantasies and shook my head quickly. "No, no. Not at all." However, that reply couldn't be further from the truth.

"You sure?" Troy took a seat next to me and placed his hand on top of mine.

My cheeks reddened as I slowly met Troy's gaze. His handsome eyes were unusually kind, like they had been when we'd dated before, and his pale lips formed a loving smile. "Um...yeah...uh...I'm positive." I flicked my gaze back to my bowl of cereal.

"It's okay to still be in love with me," Troy whispered softly in my ear. Soon after those words, I felt his lips gently touch my cheek. "And you know why? Because I still love you." He placed a gentle hand on my chin and turned my face so I was forced to look at him.

"Okay," I began. "Troy, I admit it. I-I love you. Even after all you did to me."

"But why won't you take me back, then?" Troy's fingers wandered to my cheek, where he stroked the soft skin that lay there.

"Because you're a jerk."

"Well then, what can I do to make you my girlfriend again?"

"Apologize to Lucas for how you treated him yesterday-in front of Sharpay. I want her to know you're not who she thought you were. And if you could sort of...talk to Chad about dating Taylor, that would be great, too." I smiled.

"Okay, the whole apologizing thing makes sense, but what is it with Chad and Taylor?"

"She likes him," I shrugged.

Troy smiled and placed a quick kiss onto my nose. "Will you ride with me to school?"

"If you're not too embarrassed to be seen with me. And just to tell you now, if that does turn out to be the case, then I won't get back together with you," I answered.

"I'll tell the entire world that you're mine if you want me to," Troy said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. After a momentary pause, he continued, "And also...I think I owe you a huge apology. When I said you weren't beautiful and that your breasts were too small, I was lying. You don't know how amazed I was when I saw you naked for the first time. You're just perfect. And next to your lovely eyes, your breasts are the prettiest little things on your body. They're definitely not too small. When I said those things, it was out of jealousy."

"Who were you jealous of?"

"Whichever guy was lucky enough to make love to you. And when I yelled at Lucas, I was afraid he would get to do it, while I would never get the privilege again. That's why I acted the way I did, and I admit that I was very wrong to do so."

"Are you sure?"

Troy nodded. "I'm absolutely positive. And I will never do anything like that again."

"How can I be sure of that?"

"Gabby, I think I've learned my lesson. I almost lost you forever. That was enough to make me come to my senses."

**...**

"Hey, Lucas, can I talk to you for a second?" Troy, who was standing right in front of Sharpay, called to my boyfriend, whom I was with.

"Go on," I urged Lucas. When he gave me a look of confusion and didn't budge, I took his hand and pulled him over to Troy. "He's not going to hurt you."

"Lucas, I'm sorry I was being a jerk to you yesterday," Troy started after taking a deep breath. "When I flipped out on you, it was very much uncalled for. I was jealous that you were with Gabriella and I wasn't, so I burst out into an angry fit. I hope you can forgive me."

"Troy Bolton is forgiving _me?_" Lucas said, astounded.

"Yes, I am," Troy replied confidently.

"Troy! How could you! You shouldn't apologize to that...that nerd! You should make him feel as horrible as you possibly can!" Sharpay exclaimed in horror. "Lucas isn't in the same class as you! His status is way lower!"

"I've decided to change from my old ways," Troy revealed. "Being a moron to everyone besides the other jocks is not a nice thing to do. Gabriella taught me that, and I think she's right."

"Are you and her...dating again?" Sharpay asked.

"We may start."

Lucas shifted his gaze toward the ground, then to my face. "Gabriella, you wouldn't...would you? I mean, I thought you really liked me. I thought we were a good couple. And we just got together yesterday."

"I'm sorry, Lucas. I really am. You seem like an amazing guy, but Troy is the one I love. I could never feel the same way about you-or any other guy-that I feel about him. I hope we can still be friends, though." I reached out to hug my boyfriend-no, actually my ex-boyfriend. "I'm sorry," I apologized.

"It's okay," Lucas said, returning my hug.

"So, does this mean you're taking me back?" Troy questioned as I pulled away from Lucas.

After a moment of deliberation, I opened my mouth to reply.


	17. A Trial Relationship

"Not yet," I said. "I'll give you a week to prove you're not going to flip out when something doesn't go your way. I'll call it...um...our trial relationship. And if you can pass that, I'll get back together with you for real."

"But-" Troy began.

"Quiet," I ordered. "This is where a fight would stat. But, arguments need to be avoided, so you have to keep your mouth shut."

"Wow, you can be demanding," Troy remarked.

"Yes, I can," I agreed. "I mean, I'm not like this very often, but when I want something, I'll make sure that I get it."

"Oh, you're so lame," Sharpay scoffed, cutting into the conversation.

"Sharpay, I've had it with you," I said firmly, facing my enemy. "I don't know what your problem is, but I don't like how you've been treating me and pretty much everyone around you. You never cared about Troy when you were dating him, you never respected the feelings of anyone in this school, and everything you do is something that's beneficial for yourself."

"I can't believe you just said all those things." Sharpay grabbed my wrist and squeezed it aggressively.

"Get your hands off of her," Troy growled.

"Troy, I can handle this myself," I said quickly.

Troy reluctantly stepped back a few paces and folded his arms over his chest, forcing himself to be content with only watching the battle that was just heating up between Sharpay and I, no matter how much he longed to play a part in it.

"Sharpay, let go of me," I ordered.

"No," Sharpay refused through clenched teeth.

I yanked my wrist from the angry blonde's grip. Immediately, she stared at me in horror as if she was having trouble believing I was actually strong enough to pull away from her. After all, wasn't I supposed to be weak?

"Sharpay, I think you owe apologies to just about the entire student body of East High. You're not the ruler here, yet you always treat everyone like you are. And you playing the role of princess is bad enough without you having to drag Troy along with you to act as your prince," I said sharply.

"Troy _is_ my prince," Sharpay spat. "And he's fallen in love with my worst enemy-the school's peasant, aka, the most nerdy girl."

I didn't respond.

With an eye roll and an angry sigh, Sharpay spun around, her hot pink glittery skirt twirling, and marched away with her silver heels loudly clicking against the tile flooring.

"You did it!" Troy exclaimed, hugging me tightly.

"Well, silence is the deadly weapon in this case."

"I guess so."

**...**

Saturday arrived. Troy had, surprisingly, managed to control himself up until that point. He had offered to teach me to drive, and when he did, he didn't start yelling at me when she made mistakes, even when I created a dent in his precious truck. At first I thought he was going to, as he had begun to look angry when I first found out I had damaged the bumper, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry, Troy," I apologized for about the fifth time that day. Even though he wasn't getting angered real easily anymore, I still felt bad about what I had done.

"It's alright," Troy assured as he walked over to his bed, where I was sitting, and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

I snuggled into his warm body and closed my eyes, relaxing.

"So, junior prom is in three weeks. Wanna go with me?" Troy asked after a minute of silence.

"If you pass this test, I will," I replied, a hint of teasing in my voice.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. But I'm expecting you to succeed with this, so maybe tomorrow I'll start looking for a nice dress and some shoes," I said, gazing lovingly into Troy's eyes.

"So is that a 'yes?'" Troy was thoroughly nonplussed.

I giggled. "Absolutely."

Troy sighed and ran his fingers through my dark curls.

"So, you wanna sleep in your bed tonight-with me? I think I'm ready to share again."

"Of course I want to, honey. The sofa downstairs is awfully uncomfortable, and I always feel lonely and rejected having to sleep on a different floor than everybody else," Troy replied, a smile spreading across his lips.

"I imagine you would," I reflected, entwining my arms about Troy's neck.

"Gabriella!" I heard my mom call. "Where are you?"

"In Troy's room!" I shouted in response.

Within seconds, my mom was at the doorway. And the look on her face when she saw Troy and I snuggled together on his bed was one of pure shock. "Are you guys together again? What happened to Lucas, Gabriella?"

"We're not officially together," I answered. "We're having a trial relationship for a week and if it works out, we'll date again. And I broke up with Lucas this week at school because after talking things out with Troy, I decided that he was the right guy for me."

"Oh, okay. Well, I was going to tell you that I'm starting to look at houses around this area."

My heart stopped. I had forgotten we would need to move out of the Boltons' place eventually no matter how much I didn't want to. "Um...great," I said, forcing a smile.

"I think we'll check one of them out next weekend, alright?"

"Okay." I made myself sound enthusiastic.

"Great!" My mom smiled before walking away.

"You didn't look very happy about moving," Troy remarked.

"I'm not. Troy, I want to stay here with you! I don't want to live anywhere else! I'll miss falling asleep in your arms and waking up in them. I'll miss cuddling with you whenever I get the chance. I'll miss going to school and coming home with you."

"It'll be alright. We can have sleepovers whenever you want, and if you want to cuddle, just call me and I'll come over. Also, I'll drive to your house to pick you up for school, and take you to my place to do homework when it's done. It'll work out. I promise."

"Are you sure?" I gazed at Troy with sad eyes, still not convinced that things would work.

"I'm positive." Troy stared at my lips for a moment.

"What are you doing?"

I wanna kiss you," Troy revealed as he placed his hand on my cheek and gently stroked it with his fingers. "That is, if you'll let me."

I took a minute, pretending to think. "Yes," I decided. "I'll let you."

Troy leaned in, connected his lips with mine, and for the first time in a while, we shared a sweet, passionate kiss.

**...**

**Okay, I have an urgent announcement! PLEASE go to teenchoiceawards(dot)com , create an account, and vote for Zac Efron. He's running in three categories, and I would really like him to beat the Twilight guys in at least one of them! Please spread the news, too, and if you leave a review and are planning to vote for him, say Zanessa! And if you're planning on voting and spreading the news, say ZANESSA! If you vote for him and I know about it, I'll give you a sneak peek of the next chapter. However, I can't do it with anonymous reviewers, just to let you all know.**


	18. Prom

"Yes," I said in reply to Troy's question. After our trial relationship worked out, he had asked me to be his girlfriend again, and I had, naturally, accepted the offer. We both decided-together-to take things slow, as we didn't want to go back to where we left off immediately.

"Perfect," Troy smiled, pulling me into a tight hug.

I embraced Troy in return. "I love you," I murmured softly.

"I love you, too." Troy kissed the top of my head and gently caressed my soft curls. After a moment of doing nothing but holding me, he asked, "Wanna go out on Saturday?"

"Sure," I replied, gazing into Troy's handsome eyes.

"You want to be kissed, don't you?"

I nodded.

Troy leaned in to give me a brief kiss on the lips before pulling away from our hug. "I'm gonna go outside and try to fix my truck." Troy's truck had refused to start up when we were ready to leave school, forcing me to take the bus home while Troy and Chad pushed the car. "Wanna come watch?"

"I guess," I shrugged. Watching someone fix a truck would normally not sound exciting, but when it was Troy who was fixing it, it became amazingly interesting.

Troy grabbed my hand and led me outside, where I took at seat in his grassy yard.

"So, are you excited for prom?" Troy wondered as he opened the hood of his car and took a look inside.

"Yes, but I'm also a bit nervous. I've never been to a dance before, and I certainly have no clue how to slow dance. Do you?"

"I can dance a little, but I'm not too good at it. Would you like me to show you how?"

"I'd love that." A smile broke out onto my face. "But you can wait until you're finished with the car. I can wait an hour or so to learn. I mean, prom's not for a couple weeks yet," I added hurriedly.

"No, I want you to learn now." Troy closed his car's hood and walked over to me. After helping me up, he said, "Alright. Now take my hand, let me pull you close to me, and keep your eyes locked with mine."

"That's not hard," I giggled, doing what Troy told me to.

"Now you have it pretty easy because I'm the guy, meaning I take the lead. You will need to turn a little, but don't worry about that; you'll be safe with me. And also, whatever you do, don't be afraid to fall. I'll catch you."

"Do girls fall often?" I asked with an amused smile.

"No, actually none of the ones I've danced with have ever done that."

"That's good," I said as Troy began dancing with me throughout the entire yard.

"Yeah."

"You know, you're a really good dancer," I commented.

"Well, you're an excellent one, also," Troy responded lovingly, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"That's because I have you teaching me," I smiled.

**...**

Prom night arrived. I descended the staircase of Troy's house in my short-sleeved red prom dress that gracefully brushed my knees. Around the waist of it was a white ribbon tied into a neat bow in the back, and tulle material layered the fabric below it. My high-heeled sandals exactly matched the color of the dress. My hair was tied up in a loose bun, in which a genuine white rose was placed. My lips were glossy, my eye make-up was brown, and my cheeks were sprinkled with some sparkly blush.

"You look beautiful," Troy breathed as I approached him. He looked absolutely handsome in his traditional colored tuxedo and neatly polished dress shoes. His hair was combed off his face, and I could see he was nervously biting his lip. I guessed he didn't want to ruin prom night for me, and had gotten some sort of idea in his head that he would.

"Thanks. And you look handsome, Wildcat," I remarked, gazing at Troy's face in hopes he would kiss me. My wish was granted, and as our lips connected, a camera flash suddenly went off at us. Troy and I quickly jerked our heads up to see our parents standing there, a camera in Lucille's hand.

"Mom," Troy groaned. "Did you _have_ to take that picture?"

"Yeah," Lucille answered. "I thought it would be cute."

I giggled as Troy rolled his eyes. "Mom," he groaned.

"Come on, Troy. Your father, Gabriella's mom, and I want to get some pictures of you two."

After Troy and I got our picture taken multiple times, we headed out the door and stepped into Troy's old, beat-up truck. It wasn't the typical vehicle to drive to prom, but as long as I got to go with Troy, the looks of the car didn't matter one bit.

On the way to East High, we talked a little bit about things we could do over the summer. We made plans to go to the movies, go bowling, have lots of sleepovers-as my mom wanted to buy a home and move out by August-have lazy days where we did nothing but relax on the sofa and cuddle with one another, and go to the pool.

"Alright, we're here," Troy announced as he pulled into a parking space at the school.

My hand trembled a bit as Troy grabbed it and led me inside. For the first time, prom was beginning to frighten me a little.

"You'll be alright," Troy whispered in my ear as he purposely brushed against me. Wow, he had just read my mind! He gets more and more impressive by the second.

When Troy and I climbed up the steps to the science club's rooftop garden-where we were having prom-loud music sounded in our ears. We saw many of our classmates dancing with one another, one couple standing out the most. And that was Sharpay and William. Sharpay had a hot pink dress that was so glittery, you almost needed sunglasses to look at it. William's tie matched her dress, and by the highest degree of a disgruntled look possible, I guessed he wasn't too happy with it.

"Alright!" someone announced. "We're going to have our first slow dance of the evening." A song came on.

"Can I have this dance?" Troy asked as he drew a corsage from his pocket and pinned it on my dress.

I smiled. "Of course you may."

Just like we rehearsed in his front yard, Troy and I danced around the room, gazing into one another's eyes, enjoying the moment spent underneath the stars. I was grateful, and I could tell Troy was, too, that the principal had decided to hold prom in a place with an open ceiling.

"I love you, Gabriella Montez," Troy whispered as he leaned in.

"I love you, too," I murmured, accepting the kiss Troy was offering as my arms wrapped around his neck.

"Hey, Gabby!"

I jerked my head up to see Taylor approaching me, Chad right beside her. After only a tiny amount of coaxing from Troy, Chad had agreed to try dating Taylor.

"Hi, Taylor!" I greeted.

"Hey, dude," Chad said, holding up his palm to give Troy a high five.

Troy quickly high fived Chad, then suggested that we get some food sit down on one of the benches along the wall, as the slow dance was over.

**...**

"Okay, now it's time to announce the prom royalty of the evening!" a boy in a blue tuxedo spoke into a microphone as he furiously waved one of his arms in the air to get everyone's attention.

Squeals of delight emitted from the students gathered about the room.

"Alright, you ready?"

"Yeah!" shouted all the teenagers.

"This year, your Prom Queen is...Miss Sharpay Evans."

Sharpay walked in the way models do to accept her crown, a delighted smirk on her glossy lips. However, due to the darkness of the room, she tripped over a cord, causing her to bump into Chad, who had a cup of soda and a plate with a pizza slice on it in his hands. Becoming unbalanced because of Sharpay, he dropped those things: right on top of her. She shot him a raging glare before walking with as much dignity as she could muster to the guy presenting the awards.

As Sharpay stood before everyone, laughs came from all the students' mouths: including the one belonging to her twin brother Ryan.

"Sharpay, you are sooooo not cool!" someone yelled.

Tears flooded Sharpay's eyes as she darted from the room and down the stairs. William watched her go, not caring that she was upset.

"And the Prom King is..."

"Wait! We should have another vote for Prom Queen!" a girl called out.

Words of agreement sounded loudly throughout the area.

"Very well. We will."

After five minutes of people writing names down and placing them in a bucket, the votes were counted. When that task was done, the announcement boy said, "Your new Prom Queen is... Miss Gabriella Montez!"

Smiling, I went to the front of the room to accept my crown, being careful not to trip over any cords or run into Chad, who had gotten more food and soda.

"And your Prom King is... Mr. Troy Bolton!"

The smile on my face broadened as Troy came to stand beside me. He didn't receive a crown, however, just a small trophy.

"Troyella! Troyella! Troyella!" the students shouted.

"Hey, Troy! Give her a kiss for us!" someone called out.

Troy and I quickly kissed while the other juniors clapped and cheered. "Troyella! Troyella! Troyella! Troyella!"

Just then, Sharpay came back up, anger still written all over face. The expression worsened as she saw everyone calling our newly invented couple name and encouraging us to kiss. "Hey! What about Willpay?" she protested angrily. "And why does Miss Nerd over here have _my _crown?" She stomped over to me and pulled the crown off my head, instead placing it on her own.

"Boo! Boo!" yelled all the students. "Gabriella's the Queen now!"

After a minute or so of that noise, Sharpay shoved the crown in my hands. "Here you go. I guess you deserve it more than me," she mumbled.

"What was that, Miss Evans?" the boy presenting the prom royalty awards asked.

Sharpay snatched the microphone from his hand with a frustrated sigh. "I said, I guess Gabriella deserves the crown and title of Prom Queen more than I do. After all, she is way kinder, smarter, and prettier. And as long as Troy's the King, then I think his real Queen-the one I secretly knew all along he was meant to be with-should have the title."

Everyone clapped.

I placed the crown on my head again, then walked over to Sharpay and hugged her. "Thank you."

To my surprise, Sharpay hugged me back. "You're most welcome. Do you think we can try to be friends from now on?"

I nodded. "I think that would be great."

Just then, the slow song for the Prom King and Queen dance came on, so I rushed back to Troy to dance with him, a smile on my face.

**...**

"How was prom?" my mom, who was sitting on the sofa, asked as Troy and I entered the house, both of us looking thoroughly exhausted as it was past midnight.

"Wonderful," I replied, smiling.

"Well, I have some wonderful news for you! I not only found a nice house that I toured online, but I also found a job!"

"That's great!" I managed to put a happy expression on my face.

"Yeah, I know! And you'd better start packing soon, as we'll be leaving for our New York home a week after school lets out."

Tears instantly sprung to my eyes as I rushed upstairs and into Troy's room, throwing myself onto his bed. How could my mom do this to me?

**...**

**Hey! I have a new oneshot called At the Pool. It's the sixth one in my Troyella Oneshots oneshot collection. It's sort of funny, but it's romance, and of course it's TROYELLA! **


	19. More Trouble

I felt a pair of strong arms embrace me and immediately knew it was Troy. Who else would be holding me like this?

"It'll be alright," Troy murmured as he lovingly kissed my forehead.

I clung to my boyfriend, burying my face in his shoulder, and mumbled, "B-But I-I'm moving t-to N-New Y-York. W-We'll n-never s-see one a-another a-again!"

"We will, sweetheart, we will," Troy assured, rubbing my back. "Everything will turn out alright."

"T-Troy...before I-I go," I began, "C-Could you m-make l-love t-to m-me? I-I want y-you t-to be m-my f-first t-time, a-and we w-won't be a-able to m-make t-that h-happen i-if w-we're t-thousands of m-miles apart."

"Now?" A shocked expression crossed Troy's face.

I nodded. "Y-Yes. I-I want you t-tonight...r-right this s-second..." My eyes melted with Troy's.

"After your mom is in bed," Troy spoke, placing a kiss onto my forehead.

After a few minutes of holding one another, Troy and I heard my mom go to her room and shut the door. Creeping out quietly from Troy's room, we saw that there was no light coming from the crack beneath the door, signaling that she had gone to sleep. Satisfied, Troy and I walked back to his room and shut ourselves in.

"You sure you're ready?" Troy checked.

I nodded. "I'm positive."

Troy unzipped my dress and let it slide off of me while I tore his tuxedo off, leaving us in our underwear. Troy then spun me around so my back was facing him and unclasped my bra. Slightly nervous, I covered my chest with my arms.

"What's the matter?" Troy asked, noticing my actions.

"After what happened before, I-I'm just embarrassed to have you see my bare chest." My cheeks turned a crimson red.

Troy grabbed a blanket and wrapped me up in it. "Let's talk for a minute," he suggested, pulling me onto his lap. "Sweetheart, you're beautiful. I'm not going to say anything bad about your body."

"You sure you like it?"

"I love it," Troy whispered into my ear as he kissed my cheek. "But if you're uncomfortable with me seeing your breasts, that's okay. You can put your bra back on."

"No, Troy, I think I'll be fine," I decided after a moment, sliding off of Troy's lap and allowing the blanket I was wrapped in to fall to the ground.

"You're gorgeous," Troy breathed as he lifted me back onto the bed and gently fingered my breasts. "You have no need to be embarrassed about your body."

I giggled as I felt his lips lightly touch one of my nipples, and then the other one. They weren't lustful kisses, though; instead, they were gentle, as if he were showing me just how much he treasured my body.

"You ready to do this, now?" Troy asked.

I nodded, a smile pasted on my lips.

**...**

"Troy, what is this?" Lucille shouted the next morning as she threw the door to Troy's room open, where Troy and I were still lying naked in bed.

Troy took the blanket we were under and quickly concealed my chest, which had been showing as the covers were at the level of my stomach. However, Troy was lying on the side of the bed closest to the door, so I think his mom got more of a glimpse of his bare upper body than mine. Or at least I hoped she did.

"We were just..." Troy's cheeks turned red as he trailed off.

"Gabriella, did you 'it?'" Lucille demanded.

I felt my face grow hot as I nodded. "Yes," I admitted.

"Well both of you-get dressed while I tell your father, Troy, and your mother, Gabriella." Lucille left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Troy and I rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes, then, holding hands, bravely headed downstairs, where we met our parents' furious glares.

"Gabriella Anne Montez, my room now." My mom pointed to the stairs.

"Troy Alexander Bolton, your room now," Jack ordered.

Troy and I trudged back upstairs, where we each went to the room we needed to go to.

"I can't believe what you did!" my mom exclaimed as soon as she shut the door, giving us privacy. "After all those times of me warning you not to do something as stupid as this!" She sighed. "I sure hope you used protection."

For the first time, the thought occurred to me that Troy and I hadn't had protection. "No, Mom. We didn't use protection. But it was unexpected, too, so Troy didn't prepare and..." I ranted nervously.

"Do you want to be a mother?" my mom demanded, her hands placed on hips.

"Well, yes. I mean, I would rather be one when I'm older, but if I am pregnant now, I'll just be happy that it's Troy's baby," I replied, refusing to meet my mother's eye. Instead, my eyes scanned the carpet.

"Gabriella, I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Let's just say I'm very thankful we're moving away soon. I was thinking of letting you stay here with the Boltons since you seemed so upset last night, but after this incident, no way."

"I just wanted to show Troy how much I love him before I moved!" I burst out.

"There are other ways of displaying love. Or in your case, 'love.'"

"What do you mean, 'love?' Mom, we're not just a high school couple. We love and care about each other. We went through a break-up and everything else. We know a relationship isn't as easy as it looks."

"That's what I said when I was your age."

"Just because you broke up with your high school boyfriend doesn't mean-"

"He was your father," my mom interrupted quietly. "And you were born before we were even out of college and married. Having a daughter was difficult, as neither of us worked a steady job and we only had a small apartment. I just don't want you to have to go through all that. That's why I've been trying to convince myself that you're not in love. But I guess I can't do it any longer."

"I understand," I decided after a moment of deliberation.

"Great. Now, in a few weeks, I'm going to buy you a pregnancy test to take."

"Okay, Mom."

"And no more sex, you hear me?" my mother's voice became stern once again.

"Yes, I hear you."

"Also, I don't want you and Troy to share a room anymore. That has become inappropriate."

"But Mom-"

"No. And I'm sure Troy's parents would say the same thing."

As I walked out of the room, I let out a deep sigh while tears brimmed in my eyes. I was moving shortly and I couldn't even show my passion to Troy or snuggle close to him at night. My world was slowly crumbling.

**...**

**I know this is short, but I hope you enjoyed anyway! I mean, I know this isn't a very enjoyable chapter (LOL) but...please review and tell me what you think!**


	20. Tornados of the Heart

"Gabriella, let's go!" my mom called.

I sighed. Today was the day I was to move to my new house. "No, Mom. I'm not leaving," I defied after a moment of thinking as I plopped down beside Troy on his bed.

"Yes, you are," my mother insisted. I heard her walk up the stairs and then, a few moments later, saw her enter Troy's room.

"I'm not packed," I explained.

"And why is that?" my mom demanded, glaring at me.

"Because I'm not moving. I'm staying here with Troy." I climbed into Troy's lap and smiled as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Come on, Gabriella."

"No."

"What's going on?" asked Lucille as she entered the room.

"Gabriella won't leave," my mom replied.

"Troy, let go of her, please," Lucille said politely as she noticed her son was blocking me from leaving the bed.

"No. I will not let her go. I refuse to allow her to be taken off to some place where I'll never be able to see her again! Our relationship is very important!" Troy shouted, his grip on me tightening.

"Gabriella, get your butt out to the car this instant!" my mom yelled, her eyes glittering with anger. "We're going to miss our flight if you don't go there right now!"

"Mom, please...I don't see why I can't just stay here! Everything's fine! I didn't even get pregnant from Troy!" I shouted. I had taken a pregnancy test that morning, and it had been negative. "And I promise we'll use protection from now on!"

"The point is no sex at all," my mother explained.

Just then, Jack joined our moms. "What's all this noise about?"

"We need to be heading off to the airport, but Gabriella's not moving."

"Come on, Troy. Let her go," Jack instructed.

"I refuse to," Troy said firmly.

My mom glanced at the clock. "We're late! Oh, I can't believe you made us late, Gabriella Anne Montez! You are in so much trouble! Now we won't be able to leave until the time of the next flight to New York! Well, if you're packed by then, that is. If you're not, then we'll be stuck here even longer."

"Could I go with her?" Troy asked, looking at our parents.

Lucille sighed. "I don't know, Troy. I would rather you stay here where your father and I can keep an eye on you."

"Please, Mom," Troy begged.

"Let me talk to your father and Gabriella's mother about it," Lucille decided after a moment, wheeling around and heading out the door while the two other adults followed her.

"I really hope they say 'yes,'" I said, cuddling into Troy.

"So do I," Troy agreed, kissing the top of my head as he stroked my hair.

**...**

"Alright," my mom announced as she walked back into the room with Troy's parents. "This is what we've decided. If you two can either leave the door open when you're sleeping or sleep in separate rooms, Troy can come to New York with us for the summer, and you can come back here with him for the school year."

"Really?" my eyes lit up.

My mother nodded. "Yes, but only if you promise not to do anything with Troy."

I looked down at the ground. "I'm afraid I can't make that promise," I decided slowly.

My mom sighed. "Please, Gabriella." When she saw I wasn't making any move to change my mind, she added, "At least wait until I can talk to you about this and we can get you on birth control pills. If you could just hold out through the summer, that would be great. And if you do well on birth control and you use protection, during senior year you can go back to having sex with Troy. I just want to make sure I discuss with you all the different ways you can prevent becoming pregnant and make sure you're responsible enough to handle having sex."

"Thanks Mom," I smiled.

"And Troy, don't bribe her into doing 'it,' sooner than she's allowed," Jack reminded before leaving the room, our mothers following him.

"So, that worked out nice," Troy remarked, leaning in to kiss me.

"Yeah," I smiled, accepting Troy's kiss, which seemed to last for hours.

"So, I guess we'd better start packing our things," Troy said when we finally pulled apart.

"Can I sing you this song I made up first?" I asked. "It's about us."

"You wrote a song about us?" Troy sounded surprised, yet pleased. "I never knew you were into music before."

"Well, it's sort of like my hidden talent." My cheeks darkened a little.

"Alright, well, go ahead and play sing it! I'm sure your voice is beautiful." Troy placed his hand on my cheek and stroked it with his thumb.

A smile crossed my face as I opened my mouth and allowed the words to pour fluently out:

_When I saw the storm of a tornado coming,  
__I went to run and hide.  
__I had no choice but to save myself,  
__Leaving someone behind._

_When I showed up at your house,  
__You were reluctant to take me in.  
__You were stuck in your own little world,  
__You never cared where I'd been._

_I'll try to let you know,  
__But I doubt you'll give me a chance.  
__I really care about you,  
__But you barely give me a glance._

_I'll try to say this in words,  
__Though I hardly know where to start.  
__The winds might have destroyed my home,  
__But the real tornado's in my heart._

_You broke up with your girlfriend for me,  
__Once you thought you liked me best.  
__We were happy as could be together,  
__But then came the real hard test._

_You kept comparing her with me,  
__And I became sad.  
__You didn't realize how I felt,  
__And just got mad._

_I'll try to let you know,  
__But I doubt you'll give me a chance.  
__I really care about you,  
__But you barely give me a glance._

_I'll try to say this in words,  
__Though I hardly know where to start.  
__The winds might have destroyed my home,  
__But the real tornado's in my heart._

_You said you were through with me,  
__You ignored me still.  
__You dated your old girlfriend again,  
__And didn't try to clean the spill._

_But then you got really jealous,  
__When I started dating someone new,  
__You didn't like him,  
__And didn't know what to do._

_You said that you loved me,  
__I said I loved you, too.  
__You said that you didn't want us apart,  
__And I said 'I need you.'_

_You took me back and broke up with your girl,  
__And said you were sorry for what you'd done.  
__And we were happy together,  
__Until again the clouds covered the sun._

_But we cleared everything up fast because we're together,  
__We made it all right,  
__Because we're stronger now.  
__And the tornados in my heart have stopped._

_Oh, the tornados of my heart. Tornados of my heart._

"That was lovely, sweetheart," Troy complimented, kissing my cheek.

"Thanks," I smiled.

And from that day on, Troy and I remained inseparable. Our relationship grew beautifully, both of us falling more in love with one another than the day before. Sure, we had our bad times, but we sorted them out maturely, just like what we were supposed to do.

The tornados of my heart had come to a stop.

**...**

**Alright, well that's it! I hope you enjoyed this rewrite! Sorry if this chapter sucks. I'm always terrible at last chapters. And also, I made the song myself:)**

**I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, as I was having a conflict with Hiding in the Shadows, and I decided to delete both the original copy and the new version I had begun yesterday, as they're too stressful for me to work on anymore. Please bear with me as I act stupid like this. And I apologize to anyone whose upset with my choice.**


	21. AN

**Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm starting fresh on a new profile. I'll still be writing Troyella, so go check me out at ~zefronsangel. I'll be posting the updated version of my story ****_Win Some, Lose Some_**** soon.**

**ZefronsAngel**


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